Aechmea angustifolia Poepp. & Endl.
Literature references:
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Comments:
- Local names. Achupa, casha pinga (Peru). —See Smith & Downs 1979
- Misnamed Bromeliads, No. 17: Aechmea eggersii by Harry E. Luther in J.Brom. Soc. 47(2): 75. 1997
Aechmea angustifolia Poeppig & Endlicher is a variable and widely ranging species. It is not surprising that a number of variations have been named as independent species, especially as certain ecotypes or growth forms look quite different. When these are cultivated together in a greenhouse under identical conditions much of the variation disappears. This is especially true for the plants that have been named A. leucocarpa Andre; the broadly conical inflorescence produced by many plants in habitat in western Ecuador may or may not occur under cultivation. Many of the plants will produce the long, cylindrical inflorescence of A. angustifolia. The same can be said for A. andradei Gilmartin which is a high light, somewhat stressed morph. Under more lush conditions the plant becomes a typical A. angustifolia.
Another "species" also closely allied to A. angustifolia is A. eggersii Mez from southwestern Ecuador. It was distinguished by having the rhachis of the branches "angled" and not "winged". In 1989 I examined the type specimen of A. eggersii and found that it in no way differs from typical A. angustifolia that is common around the type locality of the former species. They are clearly conspecific. What this has to do with bromeliad growers is that seed of A. eggersii was recently offered and I am sure that many of the resulting seedlings are now approaching maturity. In September, 1996 I flowered a plant of these A. eggersii seedlings and, as expected, the plants are A. angustifolia. —See Luther 1997b p. 75
