Aechmea tocantina by Antonio Miranda in Bromelia 1998 p47
Margaret Mee, the botanical illustrator, was responsible for kindling my passion for bromeliads, with her extraordinary drawings depicting the Amazonian flora. One, in particular, shows a rather awkward and aggressive plant in its native beauty: Aechmea tocantina. It is not easily found in nurseries not so much for its relatively large size but more so because it is not considered an ornamental plant. Notwithstanding, as an epiphyte, it develops spectacular clusters due to its long inflorescence.
It is an Amazonian plant. Margaret found it on an island on the Alto Juruema, on an expedition into Mato Grosso, in 1962: "and I have found another Bromeliaceae, Aechmea tocantina, aggressively armored with black thorns. Little bats flitted around and the current gently swept up and down a branch that had fallen into the river. It is a marvelously calm night." (Mee, 1989- p. 66)
Taking advantage of a family trip to the town of Paraiso de Tocantins, in the state of Tocantins, in July 1995, I decided to go out and look for the plant, presuming I was in its natural habitat. I was right. An orchid expert who lived in the town and knew the region well as he had farms nearby gave the necessary support.
We left Paraiso do Tocantins going towards Divinopolis which is about 70 km away on a recently paved state highway. On the way, there were only small settlements, in a vast scrubby wasteland. After Divinopolis we took a dusty, lonely road, with rugged huts and a few fields. An emu ran across the road, a gigantic bird, running awkwardly.
About 30 km down the road, we left the jeep and entered the scrub, working our way towards a grove of native trees. There they were, A. tocantina plants on the trees, some in bloom. At the edge of the grove there was a fallen tree with some of these bromeliads among branches and dry leaves, already completely adapted to their new habitat. Being so prickly, they were hard to extricate so as to have some samples which my friend and I brought back in a bag. We became lost on the way back for an hour or so, even though we were on my host's property. There was not a single landmark around except for the grove of trees. Thirsty and perspiring, dirty and sooty from the burned bushes, we managed to reach the road again about a kilometer from where we had left the jeep. On the nearby farms we tried to speak to the owners. We passed several gates and there were no dogs at the wide-open houses. Everything was left unguarded: family belongings, farming tools, cattle and food. We got water from a well to quench our thirst. It was Sunday, a day on which many go out to visit friends and relatives in town.
According to Smith (1971), Aechmea tocantina Baker is a flowering plant with leaves of up to 1 meter in length, with thick thorns. Its inflorescence is panicled, subdensely cylindrical with an almost upright raceme. It has distichous floral bracts, spreading and reddish. The impression one has when it blooms in the middle of the year is of a yellowish green cluster. Margaret Mee's drawing (p. 57) shows the adult plant with its ripe fruit.
Not really knowing how to care for it, I planted it in different ways: as an epiphyte in the fork of an enormous "jamelao" tree (Eugenia jambolana) which stands next to my country house, in a flower bed where it gets the sun, and in a pot. One year later all were doing very well and blooming, although the epiphytes showed better development and lateral multiplication. The next step was to collect the seeds in pods, and plant them on damp "xaxim powder". At the moment I have a few dozen seedlings in full development to exchange with friends. p. Bromelia
A. Miranda in Bromelia:47.1998
Margaret Mee, the botanical illustrator, was responsible for kindling my passion for bromeliads, with her extraordinary drawings depicting the Amazonian flora. One, in particular, shows a rather awkward and aggressive plant in its native beauty: Aechmea tocantina. It is not easily found in nurseries not so much for its relatively large size but more so because it is not considered an ornamental plant. Notwithstanding, as an epiphyte, it develops spectacular clusters due to its long inflorescence.
It is an Amazonian plant. Margaret found it on an island on the Alto Juruema, on an expedition into Mato Grosso, in 1962: "and I have found another Bromeliaceae, Aechmea tocantina, aggressively armored with black thorns. Little bats flitted around and the current gently swept up and down a branch that had fallen into the river. It is a marvelously calm night." (Mee, 1989- p. 66)
Taking advantage of a family trip to the town of Paraiso de Tocantins, in the state of Tocantins, in July 1995, I decided to go out and look for the plant, presuming I was in its natural habitat. I was right. An orchid expert who lived in the town and knew the region well as he had farms nearby gave the necessary support.
We left Paraiso do Tocantins going towards Divinopolis which is about 70 km away on a recently paved state highway. On the way, there were only small settlements, in a vast scrubby wasteland. After Divinopolis we took a dusty, lonely road, with rugged huts and a few fields. An emu ran across the road, a gigantic bird, running awkwardly.
About 30 km down the road, we left the jeep and entered the scrub, working our way towards a grove of native trees. There they were, A. tocantina plants on the trees, some in bloom. At the edge of the grove there was a fallen tree with some of these bromeliads among branches and dry leaves, already completely adapted to their new habitat. Being so prickly, they were hard to extricate so as to have some samples which my friend and I brought back in a bag. We became lost on the way back for an hour or so, even though we were on my host's property. There was not a single landmark around except for the grove of trees. Thirsty and perspiring, dirty and sooty from the burned bushes, we managed to reach the road again about a kilometer from where we had left the jeep. On the nearby farms we tried to speak to the owners. We passed several gates and there were no dogs at the wide-open houses. Everything was left unguarded: family belongings, farming tools, cattle and food. We got water from a well to quench our thirst. It was Sunday, a day on which many go out to visit friends and relatives in town.
According to Smith (1971), Aechmea tocantina Baker is a flowering plant with leaves of up to 1 meter in length, with thick thorns. Its inflorescence is panicled, subdensely cylindrical with an almost upright raceme. It has distichous floral bracts, spreading and reddish. The impression one has when it blooms in the middle of the year is of a yellowish green cluster. Margaret Mee's drawing (p. 57) shows the adult plant with its ripe fruit.
Not really knowing how to care for it, I planted it in different ways: as an epiphyte in the fork of an enormous "jamelao" tree (Eugenia jambolana) which stands next to my country house, in a flower bed where it gets the sun, and in a pot. One year later all were doing very well and blooming, although the epiphytes showed better development and lateral multiplication. The next step was to collect the seeds in pods, and plant them on damp "xaxim powder". At the moment I have a few dozen seedlings in full development to exchange with friends. —SeeSmith & Downs 1979
