DISCUSSION
When A. paradoxa was described, it was regarded as having no morphological affinity with the species of the genus to which it was originally assigned. There is a great deal of truth in this, for although the petals are connate at the base, this species does not belong in the genus Wittrockia. The same group of characteristics that support the new combination proposed for A. weberi also justify the new position of A. paradoxa, with emphasis on the short-caudate ovules. According to Halbritter & Till (unpubl. data), the pollen of this species resembles that of A. echinata and A. mol/is, thus corroborating the fact that these species form a single taxonomic unit, as was mentioned in the discussion on the preceding species.
Even within the genus Aechmea, the name A. paradoxa is still very appropriate, since the plant is as odd as A. echinata in appearance. Its coral-colored petals are very unusual in this genus, although common in some species of Nidularium.
DISTRIBUTION & HABITAT
There are only two known collections of A. paradoxa: the holotype, collected by Alvim Seidel in Buerarema, Bahia, and the paratype, of unknown origin, once cultivated in the bromeliad sector of the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden. Practically nothing is known about the habitat or habit of this species, except what can be inferred from the phytogeography of the region where it was collected and the mesophytic characteristics of the plant itself. Attempts to locate it in the wild have been in vain.
The two clones of A . paradoxa flower from December to February in cultivation in Rio de Janeiro. The species is still practically unknown to horticulture. p. Canistrum
