Billbergia nutans H.Wendl. ex Regel
Taxonomic Change:
- Cultivated in Berggarten Herrenhausen, Hannover, 1872 (lectotype designated, DR).
Note : The court gardener H. Wendland had cultivated this species in the Herrenhausen garden in Hannover and had published it as a novelty. Some living material had been brought to the garden of the university of Dresden where it had flowered in 1872. No specimen exists in Hannover nor has been hitherto traced in any herbarium. As the plant in DR doubtlessly is clonotypic it is proposed here as the lectotype. —See Till 1995 p. 413-421
Literature references:
*move your mouse pointer over the page numbers to see comment
Comments:
- THE SOUTHERNMOST RECORD OF THE GENUS "BILLBERGIA " by Alberto Castellanos in BSB 2(5):51-53,56. 1952
During my botanical trips in the Republica Oriental del Uruguay the years 1946-48, I had the chance to find several novelties for the flora of that country, which I published in Lilloa XX ( 1949) 237-249. Here I present another one, which at the same time represents the southernmost locality of the geographic area of the genus Billbergia, viz. the collection of the species B. nutans on Uruguayan territory.
The present note shows not only the differences between two taxonomically related species, but also their geographical areas, viz. those of Billbergia nutans and Billbergia distachia var. straussiana.
The differences between both species may be expressed in the following way:
A Inflorescence nodding, 1-lateral. Ovary furrowed, outer tepals pink, inner
green indigo-fimbriated . . . . B. nutans
B Inflorescence subnodding, lateral with flowers nearly horizontal. Ovary strongly
furrowed, outer tepals light green, with the apex scarcely blotched with indigo, and the
inner ones light green . . . . .B. distachia var. straussiana
Wendland in Regel, Gartenflora XVIII ( 1869) 162, tab. 617. Baker in Curtis, Bot. Mag. CV ( 1879) tab. 6423. Castellanos in Descole, Genera III ( 1945 ) 171, tab. 36.
B. Bonplandiana Gaudichaud ( 1889) nomen nudum y B. Bonplandiana Mez in Fl. bras. ( 1892) 421, tab. 76 et Mon. ( 1896) 329 no.31.
B. linearifolia Baker, Brom. ( 1889) 72, no.5.
B. minuta Mez in Fedde, Repert. XIV ( 1916) 244 et Pflanzenreich ( 1935 ) 196 no.47.
Geographical area.- From Minas Geraes ( Brasil ) southwards, passing through Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Santa Catharina, Rio Grande do SuI, Paraguay, Uruguay to the north of Argentina, in the botanical provinces, Tucumano-boliviana or Yunga ( Rosario de la Frontera in Salta and Calilegua in Jujuy) , Misionera, Correntino-paraguaya ( in several localities ) and Uruguaya north of Tranqueras.
Obs.-Cultivated in Buenos Aires, this year ( 1951) it flowered in August, an opportunity we used to classify it. Up till now this species was not known with certainty to occur in Uruguayan territory. The quoted latitude is up till now the most southerly point of the geographic area of the genus.
- by Derek Butcher Sth.Australia in Bromeletter 31(6): 14. 1993
I have already written about the doubt that existed in 1964 or thereabouts of the authenticity of the Aussie B. nutans and have been obtaining other material to compare. Fossari's paintings in R. Reitz's book 'Bromeliaceas' give you a clue of what to expect with the only argument being whether B. schimperiana is a species in its own right or a variety of B. nutans. Whatever, they look very similar with B. schimperiana having more blue AND a blue tip in the petals and more green in the sepals. The drawing clearly shows "whiskers" on the petal of B.nutans but the artist has been carried away with this facet. Yes, they are there because I've found them in every specimen I have looked at, but I do have a dissecting microscope which is very helpful!
If we talk about the shape of the plant, the Aussie version seems to sway between B. nutans and B. schimperiana depending how it feels at the time. I've never seen self set seed on the Aussie version (can someone prove me wrong? ) so I was surprised to get seed from England of all places. Yes, I have a contact over there. The seed germinated and plants flowered this year for the first time. From now on this will be called the Pommie version, and although offsetting, it is being consistent. Not like ours, but time may tell a different story. The flowers do have whiskers and it does look like a nutans.
And then there is the 3rd form or the Yankee job because it came to this country via Harry Luther, although who actually imported it I do not know. It is smaller than either the Aussie or the Pommie version but the leaves are much more prickly. B. schimperiana is said to have no spines at all!
In fact the Yankee job seems very close to a description given in 'Bromeliaceae' by Mez published in 1934 (and is in the B.S.A. library). This book, by the way, makes very interesting reading to the serious collector but you need to know a bit of Latin. The plant was called Billbergia minuta and known for its dense spines, but before you change the label this was reduced to synonymy under B.nutans in Smith & Downs.
Yes, B.nutans is a common plant grown by lots of people including Bromeliad growers, ordinary gardeners and ordinary non-gardeners. It has lots of common names but turns up with uncommon discussion points. Does the Aussie version set seed? Has anyone grown these to maturity? Is the "bald" B. schimperiana around and true to type?