Although this new species is only known from southwestern Venezuela, it may possibly be found in the Brazilian Amazon sometime in the future. —SeeBromelia
Pitcairnia (Pepinia) leopoldii, Lost for 48 Years, Rediscovered in Venezuelan Amazonia
Francisco Oliva-Esteve in J. Brom. Soc. 51(1): 4-6. 2001
After going uncollected for 48 years the small extraordinary Pitcairnia leopoldii W Till & S. Till has been encountered again by Dr. Charles Brewer-Carias and Fanny Brewer of Caracas in northwestern Amazonas State, Venezuela.
The type specimen was collected by S.M. Roi Leopold III, King of Belgium, in 1952, near the Autana and Sipapo rivers in northwestern Amazonas State. King Leopold visited Venezuela at the invitation of the Secretary of the Belgian Embassy in Caracas, Napoleon Dupuy, and his friend Frank Risquez-Iribarren. Among other activities, he was taken to view the famous landscapes and sunrises in the area known as Los Llanos (The flat-lands). It is said that at a precise time of the year, the sun and moon can be seen at the same time, creating an unsurpassed combination of sunrise and moonset of extraordinary beauty.
An extension of that trip was an expedition into a dense jungle where plants were collected for scientific purposes. Among the plants collected was this extraordinary Pitcairnia, samples of which were sent to the Belgian Herbarium (BR) in Meise.
The plant was recently collected again in the middle of the jungle on the shores of Paraka-Wachoi Lake, Amazonas, 12 kilometers north of Cerro Autana, during a helicopter expedition sponsored by a Venezuelan foundation. At first glance this plant was thought to be a species of Navia. However, Paul Berry of the University of Wisconsin, here in Venezuela on a research project for a few weeks, used Smiths & Downs Key to the Pitcairnioideae to determine that it was Pitcairnia leopoldii. On learning this, I contacted Drs. Walter Till and Susanne Till of the University of Vienna, who originally described the species, to send me the full botanical description, published in BROMELIA, the Journal of the Brazilian Bromeliad Society.
In the description Dr. Till stated that the species resembled a Navia because the ovules are similar to those of the genus Navia in Pitcairnioideae. He further noted that the presence of petaloid appendages clearly shows that the species belongs to either Pepinia or Pitcairnia, depending on whether one accepts the criterion presented by G.S. Varadarajan and A.J. Gilmartin, respectively. Subsequently, Dr. Till asked the Belgian Herbarium (BR) in Meise, for some botanical specimens to review unidentified species of plants. Among the undescribed species was this striking Pitcairnia that was obviously named after the King. —SeeOliva-Esteve 2001ap. 4-6
