Alcantarea extensa (L.B.Sm.) J.R.Grant
Literature references:
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Comments:
- Alcantarea extensa complex comments by D Butcher Sept 2010.
I was intrigued in the following statement in the paper in Rodriguesia 2010 especially as to petals of a raw meat colour.
“In the original description, Smith (1943) put under synonym Vriesea regina sensu Wittmack (1891) and discussed that Wittmack's description was based on a plant from Serra do Pied (presently known as Serra de Itatiaia), 1600 m s.m, on the border of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro States. While checking the protologues we noticed that Smith (1943) probably misunderstood Wittmack's description, which says that his plants were grown from seeds collected at Rio Doce, and also mentions the presence of mucilage in the flowers and that the petals have raw meat color and presents illustrations and measures that clearly indicate that the plant he had in hands was, in fact, very close to A. extensa.”
So I got hold of Wittmack’s work, thanks to Leo Dijkgraaf of the Netherlands. It was, of course in German, which I had to type up AND translate. Not only did Smith misunderstand what was written so too did Versieux and Wanderley. Anyone can refer to my msword file of Wittmack’s article on Vriesea regina in both German and English so anyone can check my translation.
“On the 17 July 1890, Professor Dr. A. Gravis, director of the Botanical garden in Liege wrote me:
“In our glasshouse stands a large big Vriesea species in flower. It is very similar to V. Glazioviana, is 3 m high! and 50-60 big (? cm wide), a few grey-green leaves, that in the middle are 95 cm long and at the base 20 cm wide. Other smaller leaves, gradually merge into the floral bracts (primary bracts – Butcher) above. From these floral bracts, the lower 25-30 are sterile, and have a bent outwards tip. The following 10 for example have about 20 flowers per branch in the axils. The flowers have narrow very long yellow petals.
These plants partly come from a sowing of seeds in 1876, which Wallis had brought from Ecuador, and partly from one done in 1879 from seeds that been collected by Lietze near the Rio Doce. No difference between both.”
Next
“I got some leaf and floral branches at that time and have photographed one of the latest, fig. 47). Later, on the 7 September, Prof. Gravis also sent an unfortunately in very small scale recorded photo of the whole plant (image. 46), and noticed even more exactly regarding the flower colour: “the petals are white, with a difficult to describe, washed out purple-brown tone. As the flower develops, the long petal removes itself very much far from each other, even bending back on itself and even twisting a little about itself.”
Next
“I give a short description in the following based on living material and Gravis’s notes.
Vriesea regina Beer.
Plant 3 m high, 50-60 cm wide, leaves strap-like, about 1 m long, at the base 20cm, in the middle 15 cm wide, finishing in very wide end with a short acuminate twisted tip, shining strongly, underneath fresh green, upper side grey green, somewhat striped, gradually merging with the scape bracts above. Scape bracts 25-30, very large, broadly ovate, bent over at the tip, outside (underneath), purple, inside green or after the base somewhat pale. Scape and panicle large, finally with about 10 ercct spreading spikes, that arise in the axils of the primary bracts. Spike distichous, axis thick, somewhat bent, up to 18 flowers. Flowers very large, remote.
Floral bracts broad ovate, almost truncate, puffy, enclosing the longer calyx, 4cm long, 1½ cm wide and just as thick, dark green, often the back or overall wine-red toned. Calyx almost three-edged-pyramidal, green, at the top wine-red, Sepals lanceolate, leathery, 5 cm long. Petals almost twice as long, narrowly linear, tipped, wine-reddish (in my example), normally whitish, 8cm long. Stamens far exceeding the long petals, 11-12 cm long, filament very long and thin, straight, finally bent over or twisted, white; anthers joined at the almost arrow-like base, hardly wider than the filament, linear, long. Style initially much shorter than as the petals and stamens, finally it overhangs, 12 cm long. Stigma lobes 3, small, not twisted.
The calyx secretes a tenacious mucilage so abundantly, as with many vrieseas, that it often sticks together the petals into a tube.”
Clearly the photograph is of an Alcantarea extensa look alike but where it was found has to be proved. Was it from Wallis’s seed or not? The contradiction of Gravis’s petal colour to the wine-red of Wittmack makes me wonder if they were talking about the same plant especially when the entire article points out the similarity of so many other named large Vrieseas. Note also that the description is based on Gravis’s plant as well as Wittmack’s.
