genus Bromelia L.
Literature references:
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Comments:
- Key to Species of Bromelia in S&D
1. Branches of the inflorescence distinct; flowers racemose.
2. Sepals broad, not more than 3 times as long as wide, 6-20 mm long.
3. Branches 13-24 cm long; inflorescence very lax, broadly pyramidal; pedicels 5-15 mm
long, equaling or exceeding the floral bracts.
4. Inflorescence completely glabrous. Southern Bolivia, Paraguay, northwestern Argentina.
hieronymii.
4. Inflorescence densely white-lepidote. Brazil: Rio de Janeiro (?), Espirito Santo. binotii.
3. Branches much shorter, rarely to 8 cm long (B. chrysantha), mostly erect or suberect; inflorescence mostly dense or subdense, narrow or short.
5. Inflorescence long, long-scapose, or mostly both.
6. Sepals narrowed from near the base, ovate or triangular.
7. Sepals 6 mm long, ecarinate. Brazil: Goias. irwinii
7. Sepals 10-15 mm long, carinate.
8. Petals to 35 mm long, twice as long as the sepals. Northeastern Brazil. laciniosa
8. Petals 15-16 mm long, only a little longer than the sepals.
9. Sepals acuminate; inflorescence subglobose. Brazil: Goias. reversacantha.
9. Sepals broadly acute; inflorescence laxly cylindric. Brazil: Bahia. arenaria
6. Sepals narrowed from the middle or above or oblong.
10: Sepals ecarinate, unarmed. Southeastern Brazil, Uruguay. antiacantha
10. Sepals carinate.
11. Petal-blades erect, purple; sepals unarmed. Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay,
Argentina. balansae
11. Petal-blades spreading, yellow; sepals mucronate.
12. Inflorescence densely and persistently brown-lepidote. Trinidad, Venezuela,
Colombia. chrysantha.
12. Inflorescence pale-brown-lepidote, soon glabrous. Mexico. palmeri
5. Inflorescence densely ellipsoid to subglobose, short-scapose. Brazil: Minas Gerais,
Goias. regnellii.
2. Sepals narrow, 4 or more times as long as broad.
13. Inflorescence white-lepidote, mostly 2 or more times longer than broad.
14. Sepals not prominently keeled, broadly convex to nearly flat.
15. Floral bracts subulate; petals densely tomentose at apex; sepals narrowly triangular, 6
10 times as long as wide; fruit verrucose. West Indies and Mexico to Guiana and
Ecuador. pinguin
15. Floral bracts broader; petals glabrous; sepals broader.
16. Floral bracts triangular; sepals straight. Mexico to Nicaragua. alsodes.
16. Floral bracts oblong, obtuse; sepals cucullate. Brazil: Maranhao. eitenorum
14. Sepals prominently keeled, more or less conduplicate.
17. Branches of the inflorescence spreading; inflorescence sublax, pyramidal. Brazil:
Mato Grosso. sylvicola
17. Branches of the inflorescence erect; inflorescence densely cylindric or ellipsoid.
Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Parguay, Argentina. balansae
13. Inflorescence brown-lepidote.
18. Sepals free.
19. Floral bracts much shorter than the ovary; leaf-blades narrowed toward base but not
truly petiolate. French Guiana. agavifolia
19. Floral bracts from about equaling to much exceeding the ovary.
20. Pedicels slender, 10-12 mm long; inflorescence cylindric or subcylindric; sepals
cucullate. Venezuela, Brazil: Rio Branco, Para. goeldiana
20. Pedicels short but distinct; inflorescence densely capitiform; sepals acute. Peru: San
Martin. poeppigii.
18. Sepals irregularly high-connate; flowers lax, secund. Brazil: Amazonas. epiphytica
1. Branches of the inflorescence abortive or the inflorescence simple (B. urbaniana); flowers fasciculate, all but their apices covered by the bracts.
21. Scape-bracts lax and exposing much of the scape. Brazil (?). redoutei
21. Scape-bracts densely imbricate and wholly concealing the scape or the scape lacking.
22. Inflorescence compound; sepals muticous.
23. Indument of the inflorescence white; leaf-blades neither constricted nor dilated at
base; floral bracts equaling or exceeding the ovaries.
24. Sepals ecarinate, broadly convex to nearly flat, 15 mm long; inflorescence
subcylindric. Brazil: Maranhao. eitenorum
24. Sepals carinate, more or less conduplicate.
25. Floral bracts linear to elliptic-oblong, not dilated at apex.
26. Scape present but sometimes covered by the leaf-sheaths.
27. Sepals straight, acuminate, serrulate toward apex, 25-30 mm long. Brazil:
Para. legrellae
27. Sepals rounded or truncate, cucullate.
28. Inflorescence longer than broad; scape relatively long.
29. Inflorescence 7-9 cm thick; sepals mostly 20 mm long; filament tube to 10
mm long. Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina. balansae
29. Inflorescence 4 cm thick; sepals 12-15(-20) mm long; filament-tube
5 mm long. Brazil. interior
28. Inflorescence globose or subcorymbose; primary bracts with long
foliaceous blades.
30. Sepals 30 mm long; filament-tube ca 18 mm long. Brazil:Goias goyazensis
30. Sepals 15-20 mm long; filament-tube 5-6 mm long.
31. Flowers 50 mm long. Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil. serra.
31. Flowers 30 mm long. Brazil: Goias, Minas Gerais. glaziovii.
26. Scape wholly lacking.
32. Sepals oblong, 20-25 mm long. Trinidad, Venezuela. humilis.
32. Sepals elliptic, I S mm long. Brazil: Goias. macedoi
25. Floral bracts dilated at apex.
33. Inflorescence on a distinct scape; sepals 20-22 mm long. .
34. Plant 2-3 m high; scape exserted above the leaf-sheaths. Brazil:Amazonas
rondoniana
34. Plant 12 cm high; scape included in the leaf-sheaths. Brazil: Ceara.
auriculata.
33. Inflorescence sessile; sepals 12 mm long. Brazil: Goias. exigua
23. Indument of the inflorescence some shade of brown.
35. Leaf-blade regularly narrowed from base to apex, linear-triangular.
36. Scape evident; sepals 14-24 mm long.
37. Floral bracts shorter than the ovary, entire; sepals 15 mm long. Brazil: Minas
Gerais, Goias. regnellii
37. Floral bracts exceeding the ovary, entire to laciniate-serrulate.
38. Inflorescence longer than wide, its indument very fine and filamentous.
Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina. balansae
38. Inflorescence globose or with a very broad apex, its indument coarse and
ribbon-shaped.
39. Sepals obovate-oblong, broadly rounded, 20 mm long; floral bracts
sublaciniate. Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil. serra
39. Sepals oblong, acute, 25 mm long; floral bracts entire. Mexico, Central
America. hemispherica
36. Scape very short and hidden by the leaf-sheaths or completely lacking.
40. Indument of the inflorescence of very finely filamentous-divided scales.
41. Floral bracts shorter than the sepals. Peru: Loreto, San Martin.
tarapotina.
41. Floral bracts exceeding the sepals. Peru: San Martin. poeppigii
40. Indument of the inflorescence composed of flat ribbon-like scales.
42. Sepals serrulate, 33 mm long. Colombia. trianae
42. Sepals entire.
43. Sepals not over 17 mm long, oblong; indument pale. Brazil: Goias,
Mato Grosso. villosa
43. Sepals 22-40 mm long.
44. Sepals cucullate, lance-oblong, 22 mm long, thin. Colombia. fragilis.
44. Sepals straight or nearly so, 25-40 mm long, coriaceous.
45. Sepals broadly elliptic, obtuse, soon glabrous; floral bracts greatly
dilated at apex. Jamaica. superba
45. Sepals narrowly oblong, acute or subacute, persistently dark
lepidote; floral bracts slightly dilated at apex.
46. Floral bracts narrowly obovate, widest well above the middle.
47. Floral bracts equaling or exceeding the sepals. Origin unknown.
grandiflora
47. Floral bracts distinctly exceeded by the sepals.
48. Ovary 2 cm long; sepals 25-27 mm long. Brazil: Bahia. lagopus
48. Ovary to 8 cm long; sepals 30-40 mm long. Mexico and the West
Indies to Ecuador and Brazil. plumieri.
46. Floral bracts linear or narrowly lanceolate; petals less than half
connate. Colombia. nidus-puellae
35. Leaf-blade either dilated or contracted at base, not regularly triangular.
49. Blade abruptly dilated at base. Suriname. fosteriana
49. Blade not dilated at base.
50. Leaf-blade abruptly contracted at base into a distinct channeled petiole.
Amazonian Brazil.
51. Sepals free, linear, apiculate, 15 mm long, 3 mm wide; petals glabrous, short
-connate. scarlatina
51. Sepals connate, oblong, obtuse, cucullate, 21 mm long, 7 mm wide; petals
dark-lepidote, connate for 3/4 of their length. morreniana
50. Leaf- blade gradually contracted toward base, not truly petiolate.
52. Sepals free.
53. Floral bracts much shorter than the ovary; scape short and covered by the
leaf-sheaths; pedicels very short. French Guiana. agavifolia
53. Floral bracts equaling or exceeding the ovary; scape evident.
54. Pedicels obscure. Suriname. alta
54. Pedicels slender, 10-12 mm long.
55. Inflorescence cylindric, the lower fascicles stipitate. Venezuela,
Amazonian Brazil. goeldiana
55. Inflorescence subglobose, the fascicles sessile or nearly so. Brazil: Para.
oliveira
52. Sepals irregularly high-connate, serrate at apex. Venezuela: Amazonas, Brazil:
Amazonas. tubulosa
22. Inflorescence simple; sepals spinose-mucronate. Northwestern Argentina. urbaniana
now Deinacanthon —See Smith & Downs 1979
