In June of 1981 an interesting new variety of Billbergia amoena was found in the State of Rio de Janeiro. This plant was described by the eminent Brazilian botanist Edmundo Pereira and Jose Luiz Moutinho. Their Latin diagnosis, originally publisbed in the Boletim de Herbario Bradeanum 3 (27); 1981 follows:
Billbergia amoena (Lodd. ) Lindl. var. stolonifera Pereira & Moutinho n. var.
Differt a forma typica et a varietatibus adhunc cognitis, planta longe stolonifera.
Typus state of Rio de Janeiro, County of Cabo Frio, Buzius,collected by Luiz K. Correia Araujo, no. 39, June of 1981. The holotypus is in Herbario Bradeanum under the number HB 71.215.
This new variety is unusual mainly because its small size contrasts so mar
kedly with the variable but usually very long stolon that can reach to almost one meter in length. For this reason, the plant would be an interesting garden specimen.
In nature, it thrives in the coastal regions, at sea level, growing as a terrestrial and sometimes forming huge masses under the bushy restinga vegetation, and also in sunny places. The plant in the photograph was found in the place known as Costa Azul, County of Rio das Ostras, RJ. Its geographical distribution is not precisely established yet, but we can be certain that this new variety grows at least from the coastal region of Sao Pedro da Aldeia up the County of Macae, State of Rio de Janeiro. —SeeLeme 1984bp. 34(5): 218