In April, 1997, Betty Girko, Vice- President of the Dallas Bromeliad Society, Jerry Raack, President of the Bromeliad Society International, Ed Doherty, President of the Dallas Bromeliad Society, Monica de Navarro, President of the Quito Orchid Association, and the first author left Quito on an expedition to study the Bromeliads of southern Ecuador.
During our trip from Loja to Zamora, we crossed the mountains named Nudo de Sabanillas, which are part of the Podocarpus National Park. The dense and humid Andean forest is still intact thanks to the protection of the government. It is still possible to see the beauty of old trees covered with a great number of bromeliads, ferns and mosses. One small gray bromeliad attracted our attention with its light orange pendulous inflorescence.
After studying this plant, we determined it to be a new species of Vriesea. —SeeJ. Bromeliad Soc.
