This plant could be of ornamental use in landscaping and under shade projects in appropriate climates.
During an excursion to the area of Colonia Tovar-El Junquito with Dr. Walter Till and Peter Bak, the author found and collected this outstanding plant which grows both as an epiphyte and terrestrial at 2100-2300 m under the canopy of lofty trees in the cloud rain forest of the Venezuelan northernmost mountain range. We also found the red form of Guzmania squarrosa Mez & Sodiro L.B.Smith & Pittendrigh, in Yacambu National Park, in Lara State, Venezuela, and have therefore been able to compare both taxa.
A Probable Mistake in Taxonomy by Ana Rousse in J. Brom. Soc. 51(4): 171. 2001
Knowing that a mistake in identification takes a long time to be clarified by botanists, I hope to correct a probable misidentification with this note. In Volume 50(6):248 (November-December 2000), the figure identified as Guzmania squarrosa forma lutea, should be Guzmania gloriosa forma lutea.
This species is seldom found in ordinary collections but has been well known since 1898. Victoria Padilla has a color picture in one of the past Journals . Also, Lyman Smith has a brief description of G. gloriosa in the Flora Neotropica Monograph number 14 part 2 on page 1348.
I collected this plant in the Andes in Tachira State near El Cobre at an altitude of more than 2500 m. The encapsulated seeds that it produced did not grow in Caracas in 1993.
[Ed note: When Harry Luther, Director of the Bromeliad Identification Center at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens was consulted, he felt that due to the range of variability within the two species and without the plant in hand to examine, he would only be venturing a guess, which he would prefer not to do. According to Harry, "I've been misled by too many photos; I need to see a specimen."}
Note by Butcher 11/2003. The key in Smith and Downs differentiates on the basis of primary bracts lepidote for G. squarrosa but glabrous for G. gloriosa. There is also the shape of the primary bracts to consider. Neither of these factors are mentioned in the description of this new form. —SeeJ. Bromeliad Soc.
