DISCUSSION
The study of C..fosterianum met with a number of problems since not all of the specimens in cultivation (theoretically originating from a single clone - Foster's type material) showed total compatibility with the original species description. Some cultivated plants are most certainly the result of hybridization, as seems to be the case with the specimen depicted by Lineham (fig. 9, 1992) . Throughout the years, hybridization has done much to destroy the genetic identity of hundreds of species and has given rise to specimens with dissonant traits. For this reason, the recent collection of new specimens contributed decisively to a broader characterization of C. fostierianum based on a pure wild strain, and also provided a new clone for cultivation.
Canistrum fosterianum is characterized by an essentially tubular rosette. Its leaves usually have sparse, rust-colored crossbands toward the apex. Under low light conditions, the leaves grow longer and become recurved, as in the supposedly typical specimen illustrated by Morris Henry Hobbs on the cover of "The Bromeliad Society Bulletin (September-October issue, 1962) . Another specimen depicted by Racine Foster ( 1988) also looks very characteristic. An interesting facet of this bromeliad is its close resemblance in rosette form and leaf coloration to Aechmea fosteriana L. B. Sm., an endemic species from the area around Vitoria, Espirito Santo. In sharp contrast to A. fosteriana, the involucral and primary bracts of C. fosterianum form a well defined cup and turn a vivid reddish pink, contrasting with the white flowers. The 40-mm-long flowers of C. fosterianum, like those of C. triangulare, are the largest in the subgenus.
The type specinlen of C. fosterianum, according to its collector, was found "in a small tree near the bay, across from the city of Salvador". The second collection record for this species came from a site near the type locality, probably in the same vegetation type. Newly discovered specimens, collected by Sandra Linhares, are semi-heliophilous and epiphytic in the understory of sandy coastal plain forest, or they may grow on the ground, near the trunks of small trees (Linhares, pers. comm.). This is not the only case of typical epiphytes such as C. fosterianum also living on well-drained, sandy soils (Leme & Marigo,1993).
C. fosterianum is therefore an epiphyte or an occasional sand dweller, living at altitudes of around 50 m, in sandy coastal plain forest or in transition zones, near the city of Salvador, Bahia.
The flowering period cannot be precisely defined based on the data at hand which was gathered mostly from cultivated plants. There is also no information on the occurrence of this species in protected areas. —SeeLeme 1997a
