Aechmea aquilega (Salisb.) Griseb.
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- DISCUSSION
According to the prologue of Bromelia aquilega - the basionym of Aechmea aquilega - the species was described based on a specimen from Jamaica that flowered on 30 September 1804 and was illustrated by W Hooker, according to the plate that typifies the species. The author of the species states in the protologue that, although he had grown this bromeliad for many years, he never saw it in flower. Furthermore, he explained that "No specimens being preserved, I cannot describe any part of it from my own knowledge except the leaves (...)" because he did not see the plant in flower.
Interestingly, Salisbury also stated in the protologue that "the flowers exuded a liquid of the colour and consistence of milk, in such abundance as to drop from them", but in spite of this abundance, the trait was not depicted in the plate that typifies the species. However, the same information was mentioned when Loddiges published Bromelia exsudans from the West Indies in 1824. Although this author stated that "the flowers are sessile and emit from their calyces a sort of secretion, which looks like soft wax, but if touched, instantly melts into water of a bitterish unpleasant taste", and expressed this trait in the species' name, the plate that is part of the protologue shows a taxon identical to B. aquilega and does not show clearly or prominently the above-mentioned secretion.
E. Morren's publication in 1879 provides new data on secretion production by species associated with Bromelia aquilega and B. exsudans. In a detailed study aimed at describing B. exsudans, expressly mentioning his protologue as well as proposing new synonyms
and transferring the species to the genus Hohenbergia, Morren (1879) painted a specimen showing an abundant white secretion. However, the specimen depicted is clearly discordant with the original concept extracted from the plate of B. exsudans published in 1824. In his comments, Morren stated that his specimen was of unknown wild origin, mentioning the white secretion and the capituliform inflorescence of his plant which was clearly different from the original plate of B. exsudans that shows a longer, sparsely branched, yellowish green inflorescence. Actually, Morren's specimen, which could not be linked to the original concept of B. aquilega and B. exsudans, was an unknown species at the time, that is only now described, in this chapter, as A. lactifera Leme & J. A. Siqueira.
Finally, Oliva-Esteve (1999), when describing A. aquilega fo. alba from Venezuela, referred to a "whitish mucilaginous substance" covering the inflorescence and also provided a photograph (figure 17 of the protologue) where it is possible to recognize this substance. Hence, it can be verified that A. aquilega may occasionally produce the milky substance mentioned in the protologue, as do other species of the same taxonomic complex, such as A. chrysocoma Baker and A. lactifera (see comments below). The greatest amount of this substance ever recorded was seen in the latter species.
Morren (1879) also referred to Hohenbergia capitata Schult. & Schult. f., [basionym of Aechmea capitata (Schult. & Schult. f.) Baker] as a synonym of his Hohenbergia exsudans. Although this concept was not accepted by Smith & Downs (1979), it was followed by Read & Luther (1991) in their revision of the Aechmea-Gravisia complex. However, judging from the morphological characteristics that are given in the protologue and in the holotype of H. capitata, especially the rose-colored floral bracts and petals spreading above the calyx, plus the place of origin being Bahia, where several recently collected specimens represent this species very well (Leme, pers. obs.), we believe that H. capitata does not belong to the A. aquilega complex. Therefore, we prefer to maintain the concept of Smith & Downs (1979) for this taxon.
Aechmea aquilega is a member of the Gravisia complex proposed by Read & Luther (1991) with species belonging to Aechmea subgen. Aechmea. Most of the species in this complex grow in Northeast Brazil, the southern limit being northern Espirito Santo. Besides A. aquilega, the following taxa make up the Gravisia complex: A. amicorum B. R. Silva & H. Luther, A. blanchetiana (Baker) L. B. Sm., A. callichroma Read & Baensch, A. discordiae Leme, A. emmerichiae Leme, A, eurycorymbus Harms, A, fraudulosa Mez, A. lanjouwii (L. B. Sm.) L. B. Sm., A. leptantha (Harms) Leme & J. A. Siqueira, A. mulfordii L. B. Sm., A. rubens (L. B. Sm.) L. B. Sm, A. sucreana Martinelli & C. Vieira and A. werdermannii Harms, as well as the new species presented below.
In Brazil, typical A, aquilega plants are confused with A. mulfordii, especially in herbarium material. This species lives on sandy Restinga soils on the northern coast of Bahia, the type specimen being from Portao, north of Salvador. The traits that distinguish A. mulfordii from A. aquilega are the mostly orange to reddish orange inflorescence and the lower primary bracts that are generally shorter than the basal branches in A. mulfordii. Fascicles of the basal branches of this species are not grouped together at the apex and are elongate (to subcylindrical) especially at the end of flowering.
Aechmea aquilega is rather plastic in relation to habitat. It is a heliophile, but also tolerates moderate shading. It is both epiphytic and terrestrial, living in the coastal zone and the hinterland (Sertao), in xeric habitats of the Caatinga and Campos Rupestres, as well as in mesic to wet conditions of the Restingas and Atlantic forest, from sea level to altitudes over 1,000 m. Bahia is its southern limit, while to the north, it is widely distributed in the Amazon region, including Venezuela and the Guianas, ranging to Trinidad and Tobago.
Natural populations of A. aquilega in Pernambuco are under intense pressure from man. Land speculation near the beach has restricted populations to the forests farther inland, like those of the Gurjau complex in Cabo de Santo Agostinho and of Usina Sao Jose in Igarassu. The same is true of Paraiba and Alagoas. The species apparently suffers less from man's activities in the Caatinga.
Aechmea aquilega flowers during the dry season, from September to March, and is typically ornithophilous. It is pollinated by resident hummingbirds like Phaethornis gounellei at the Raso da Catarina Ecological Station in Bahia (J. A. Siqueira, pers. obs.). p. Frag. Atl. NE Brazil
