An account of the habitat of Werauhia jenii, Cerro Jefe elfin cloudforest in Central Panama, has been given previously (Pierce and Aranda, 2000). Werauhia jenii is found growing alongside Werauhia lutheri S. Pierce & J.E. Aranda in this habitat, and what appear to be seedlings of Werauhia jenii have also been photographed at Fortuna, Panama (H. Luther, pers. comm. ). Werauhia jenii may prove to be restricted in range to a small number of montane sites in Panama.
The holotype specimen was discovered, not by the author, but by a Garden Emerald hummingbird ( Chlorostilbon assimilis Lawrence; Wetmore, 1968). This flew in front of the author and then up approximately 4 m to hover beside the bromeliad inflorescence in the crown of a tree (ironically this was almost directly above the author's tent, which had been pitched for two days without the bromeliad being noticed). On shaking the phorophyte tree, the thin rotting branch to which the specimen was attached snapped and fell off. The bromeliad had apparently just finished flowering, and the hummingbird was therefore not observed visiting the flowers. However, as hummingbirds remember the position of nectar sources (Miller et al. , 1985) and will revisit these sites, it is possible that this individual plant may have been visited by hummingbirds during flowering. If so, this is likely to represent opportunistic feeding on the part of the hummingbird as W jenii does not possess a typical tillandsioid bird-pollination syndrome, lacking red bracts (Benzing, 2000).
The foliage of younger plants of W jenii is somewhat more attractive than mature specimens; seedlings possess red-maroon pigmentation over both surfaces of the leaf blade, produced in more distinct, solid, transverse bands (Figure 4 ). As plants age, these bands become more diffuse and maculate (speckling the entire mid section of the leaf blade; Figure 5), and are not produced on the upper surface. The appearance of older plants suffers from the propensity of leaf tips to senesce from an early stage (sometimes when the leaves are still expanding). The plant also becomes progressively caulescent with age, the short woody stem being surrounded by rotting leaf sheaths. The end result is a large and somewhat messy individual, but with plenty of character. —SeeJ. Bromeliad Soc.
