Probably Eastern coastal Brazil, but known only from cultivation.
THE BAHAMAS: Nassau, Tropic Beauty, by Ulrich Baensch, flowered July 1990.
This species has been in cultivation for some time, but because of the considerable taxonomic confusion within this group, it has remained unrecognized as distinct. It has often been confused with Aechmea mulfordii as a result of a slightly distorted published illustration. The illustration of A. mulfordii published in the monograph by Smith and Downs (1979) exaggerates the elongation of the rachis, and does not illustrate the fact that the spikes are strongly digitately congested into fascicles of very much foreshortened spikes. Furthermore, in A. mulfordii the primary bracts equal or are only slightly shorter than the branches, while in the present species, the primary bracts only equal the sterile portion of the lower branches, and the spikelets are not fascicled.
Aechmea callichroma, A New Species described from Cultivation by Robert W. Read and H. Ulrich Baensch (1) in J Brom Soc 44(1): 17-19. 1994
During preliminary preparation for a book on bromeliads and the requisite verification of identifications, a mysterious and colorful group of plants growing at Tropic Beauty (2) demanded our attention: Aechmea aquilega, A. rubens, A. lanjouwii, and A. mulfordii. All four, included in the now-defunct genus Gravisia, are robust plants ideally suited as landscape subjects in the coastal regions of the tropics and subtropics. With rosettes up to a meter high, and forming large clumps, they produce long-lasting, colorful inflorescences from one to two meters tall. Among the numerous plants of this group at Tropic Beauty, two distinct species had been identified with A. mulfordii at one time or
another depending on who the identifier was. This confusion no doubt resulted from the publication of a misleading illustration in the Smith and Downs monograph (3) It was obvious, however that the plants in hand did not agree with the L.B. Smith description.
Harry Luther recognized the problem when he attempted to identify material sent to the M.B. Foster Bromeliad Identification Center at Selby Botanical Gardens. He tried to make it easier to identify the different plants by preparing an illustrated key (4) to the species. The distinctions remained unclear, unfortunately, because of the distorted illustration of A. mulfordii in the monograph. Furthermore, it was not understood that, as the inflorescence of Aechmea rubens developed, the spikelets came to resemble the A. mulfordii illustration, contributing further to the confusion. Read and Luther corrected this problem in a paper published in Selbyana (5).
After considerable study and comparison of living material, one taxon stood out conspicuously as distinct and recognizable, with no clear relationship to any known species. That plant, Aechmea callichroma Read & Baensch (6) is probably not of recent hybrid origin because there are no obvious clues to parentage in the complex, and plants of this species have been in cultivation for a considerable length of time. A. callichroma is most likely from eastern Brazil but more recently by way of Bob Wilson's Fantastic Gardens in Florida through Stanley Smith (7) to Tropic Beauty.
The name "callichroma," meaning lovely color, alludes to the outstanding and long-lasting colors typical of this species. Aechmea callichroma tends to be more like A. aquilega in the size and ampulate, or slightly bottle-form, shape of the rosette resulting from the slightly inflated leaf bases and lower portion of the leaf blade. In similar manner, the leaves normally exhibit a silvery gray coating of mealy scales barely masking the purplish maroon of the leaf surface. The floral bracts, sepals, and petals are bright orange-yellow, contrasting sharply with the red axes and green ovaries. Mature fruits are purplish black.
Aechmea callichroma can be distinguished easily from A. mulfordii by its flowers, which are arranged along a distinct axis, not in tight fascicles or crowded spikelets, and by the large, lowermost primary bract, which nearly equals or is shorter than the stalk supporting the lowermost branch. Also, the floral bracts of A. callichroma are barely longer than the ovary which is fairly exposed, while those of A. mulfordii are broadly ovate and more tightly congested, thereby mostly concealing the ovary. From A. rubens, this species differs in the much shorter and yellow (not orange or red) floral bracts.
This species is an excellent candidate for landscaping in moderately frost-free areas when used in full sunlight or light shade. The brighter the light the better the form and color. Close relatives are known to thrive on rocks or as terrestrials, frequently with mangroves under saline conditions. Flowering is generally in late spring and remains colorful for a considerable time.
Probably Eastern coastal Brazil, but known only from cultivation.
END NOTES:
(1). Dr. Read's address is: 272 Rose Apple Lane, Naples, FL 33961; Dr. Baensch's address is P.O. Box N I105, Nassau, Bahamas.
(2). Tropic Beauty is the Nassau home of Dr. and Mrs. Ulrich Baensch and the repository of their extensive collection of bromeliads.
(3). L.B. Smith & R.J. Downs, Bromelioideae (Flora Neotropiea monograph no. 14, pt. 3); 1979: 1824, fig. 615 i and j.
(4). H.E. Luther, Some confused aechmeas (Misnamed bromeliads, No. 6). J. Brom. Soc. 40(4): 154-156; 1990.
(5). Selbyana 12:54-67;1991. Copies may be obtained by sending $2.00 to the author at Quest End, 272 Rose Apple Lane, Naples, FL 33961.
(6). The description of this new species appears on pages 60-62 of Selbyana, 12; 1991
(see note 5, above).
(7). Stanley Smith accumulated a large collection of tropical plants in Nassau during the 1950s, many of which came from growers including Robert G. Wilson, founder of Las Cruces Botanical Garden in Costa Rica. He originated and introduced the Lasagne Fern (Asplenium nidus var. plicatum). The Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust was established upon his death. In 1979, his widow sold the bromeliad collection from which Ulrich Baensch acquired a representative of each species. —SeeSelbyanap. ???
