Alcantarea imperialis (Carrière) Harms
Taxonomic Change:
- Neotype: description and plate, designated here —See Mez 1894 p. pars 3, t. 105.
Literature references:
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Comments:
- Leme in Bromelia 3: 28. 1997
The study of the genus Alcantarea necessarily included taxons that are today placed in synonymy. One of these is Vriesea blokii, considered by Smith & Downs (1977) to be a synonym of Alcantarea regina.
Tillandsia blokii was described in 1908 by W. Botting Hemsley who, at the time, was working on the identity of the various species that had up to then been cited in the literature as V. regina. According to this author, the identification of these species had been based on a primitive drawing from Vellozo's Flora Fluminensis of 1831 (effective publication date of this work; Leme, unpub. manuscript).
According to Hemsley, the historical origin of T. blokii is obscure. The first specimen of this taxon appeared at an exhibit in Ghent, Belgium, in 1898, and it was mentioned that same year in The Gardener's Chronicle (23: 254): "The giant of the family was a huge specimen of Tillandsia (Vriesea) regina, shown as V. bloki, It was as tall as a man, and was in flower. This same author reported that he had obtained T. blokii from F. W. Moore. Moore's original letters to Hemsley are part of the holotype of T. blokii, and here we learn that the specimen was purchased for 25 francs in I'Horticulture Colonial, Brussels, Belgium, in April 1903. It went by the name Vriesea blokii and had originated from seed of the specimen shown at Ghent.
Mez (1935) officially transferred T. blokii to the genus Vriesea, considering it a valid species of the subgenus Alcantarea. Based on historical references available at the time, Smith, (1955) regarded the taxon as a synonym of V. regina, a position he maintained in his revision of the genus Vriesea (1966) and in Smith & Downs ( 1977). Grant ( 1995) revalidated the genus Alcantarea but did not examine in depth the synonyms of the included species.
Hemsley did not have a complete flowering specimen of the plant at his disposal. He examined only a primary bract, a flowering branch and a leaf sent by Moore who, on February 17, 1908, also sent a photograph of the specimen in the post-flowering stage, plus a primary bract and a branch with capsules and seeds. Except for the photograph of the plant's habit, this material constitutes the four herbarium sheets of the holotype of Vriesea blokii deposited in the herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, England.
A close examination of the holotype revealed that certain traits of V blokii do not coincide with the concept of Alcantarea regina. As a matter of fact, this species is fully compatible with A. imperialis and I propose that it be synonymized with this species.
Hemsley stated categorically in the protologue that A. imperialis is distinguished from the other species by its unilaterally distichous flowers and white petals. He did not realize, however, that his species T blokii also had unilatera!ly distichous flowers, as can be seen in the holotype; this is clearly visible in the herbarium sheet that contains the post-flowering-stage branch. Interestingly enough, the branch with preserved petals, also part of the holotype, which is depicted in color in plate 8192 (part of the protologue) does not have this trait. This is because of the way it was mounted (it was probably pressed in a frontal position), thus masking the unilateral arrangement of the flowcrs. Thc keels of the floral bracts lent credence to this assumption because they are positioned off-center on the herbarium sheet, as if they were asymmetrical, thus revealing a non-divergent original position, different from that in which they were preserved. The colors on the original plate of V. blokii (bracts and sepals inordinately red and petals intensely yellow) are apparently the result of an attempt to reproduce the true color pattern of the species because branch coloring was probably already faded, if in fact it was preserved, when Hemsley received this material from Moore. Even the withered petals mistakenly have the same intense yellow color as the fresher petals, and these do not show the recurved-spreading movement typical in Alcantarea. Furthermore, before anthesis the petals of A. imperialis are yellowish in the daytime, turning white as the flowers open fully at night. (Bromelia)
- See Leme in Bromelia 4(3): 28. 1997
The study of the genus Alcantarea necessarily included taxons that are today placed in synonymy. One of these is Vriesea blokii, considered by Smith & Downs (1977) to be a synonym of Alcantarea regina.
Tillandsia blokii was described in 1908 by W. Botting Hemsley who, at the time, was working on the identity of the various species that had up to then been cited in the literature as V. regina. According to this author, the identification of these species had been based on a primitive drawing from Vellozo's Flora Fluminensis of 1831 (effective publication date of this work; Leme, unpub. manuscript).
According to Hemsley, the historical origin of T. blokii is obscure. The first specimen of this taxon appeared at an exhibit in Ghent, Belgium, in 1898, and it was mentioned that same year in The Gardener's Chronicle (23: 254): "The giant of the family was a huge specimen of Tillandsia (Vriesea) regina, shown as V. bloki, It was as tall as a man, and was in flower. This same author reported that he had obtained T. blokii from F. W. Moore. Moore's original letters to Hemsley are part of the holotype of T. blokii, and here we learn that the specimen was purchased for 25 francs in I'Horticulture Colonial, Brussels, Belgium, in April 1903. It went by the name Vriesea blokii and had originated from seed of the specimen shown at Ghent.
Mez (1935) officially transferred T. blokii to the genus Vriesea, considering it a valid species of the subgenus Alcantarea. Based on historical references available at the time, Smith, (1955) regarded the taxon as a synonym of V. regina, a position he maintained in his revision of the genus Vriesea (1966) and in Smith & Downs ( 1977). Grant ( 1995) revalidated the genus Alcantarea but did not examine in depth the synonyms of the included species.
Hemsley did not have a complete flowering specimen of the plant at his disposal. He examined only a primary bract, a flowering branch and a leaf sent by Moore who, on February 17, 1908, also sent a photograph of the specimen in the post-flowering stage, plus a primary bract and a branch with capsules and seeds. Except for the photograph of the plant's habit, this material constitutes the four herbarium sheets of the holotype of Vriesea blokii deposited in the herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, England.
A close examination of the holotype revealed that certain traits of V blokii do not coincide with the concept of Alcantarea regina. As a matter of fact, this species is fully compatible with A. imperialis and I propose that it be synonymized with this species.
Hemsley stated categorically in the protologue that A. imperialis is distinguished from the other species by its unilaterally distichous flowers and white petals. He did not realize, however, that his species T blokii also had unilatera!ly distichous flowers, as can be seen in the holotype; this is clearly visible in the herbarium sheet that contains the post-flowering-stage branch. Interestingly enough, the branch with preserved petals, also part of the holotype, which is depicted in color in plate 8192 (part of the protologue) does not have this trait. This is because of the way it was mounted (it was probably pressed in a frontal position), thus masking the unilateral arrangement of the flowcrs. Thc keels of the floral bracts lent credence to this assumption because they are positioned off-center on the herbarium sheet, as if they were asymmetrical, thus revealing a non-divergent original position, different from that in which they were preserved. The colors on the original plate of V. blokii (bracts and sepals inordinately red and petals intensely yellow) are apparently the result of an attempt to reproduce the true color pattern of the species because branch coloring was probably already faded, if in fact it was preserved, when Hemsley received this material from Moore. Even the withered petals mistakenly have the same intense yellow color as the fresher petals, and these do not show the recurved-spreading movement typical in Alcantarea. Furthermore, before anthesis the petals of A. imperialis are yellowish in the daytime, turning white as the flowers open fully at night.
From S&D
248. Vriesea imperialis Carriere, Revue Hort. 60: 58. 1888. Fig 425 A-F.
Vriesea gigantea Lemaire, III. Hort. 14: sub pl. 516. 1867; as to description, not as to plate, nor Gaudichaud, 1843; also as to Misc.: 43, fig. 1.
Vriesea glaziouiana sensu Carriere, Revue Hort. 53: 50, fig. 15, pl. 1881; non Lemaire, 1867.
Vriesea hillegeeriana hortus ex Antoine, 15. 1884; nomen.
Tillandsia regina sensu Baker, Handb. Bromel. 227. 1889; in part, non Vellozo, 1825. Alcantarea imperialis (Carriere) Harms in Engler & Prantl. Nat. Pflanzenfam. ed. 2. 15a: 126. 1930. —See Smith & Downs 1977
