Tillandsia vicentina var. wuelfinghoffii E.Gross.

Taxonomic Change:

• Considered conspecific with the type variety —See Espejo et al. 2004 p. 86

Comments:

• Preliminary notes by R Ehlers
  This new taxon was described in 1987 in the Bromelienstudien by Werner Rauh and Dr Elvira Gross. Although the plant is widely dispersed in Chiapas and in Guatemala, confusion still seems to prevail as to what this Tillandsia is.
  Tillandsia vicentina Standley was described 1923. The holotype comes from El Salvador, Volcan de San Vicente. The plant has been found in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua as well as El Salvador. Smith in his monograph shows this Tillandsia also for southern Mexico, which has certainly contributed to the problems.
  Smith also refers to another hybrid T. vicentina x rodrigueziana? Rohweder from El Salvador. A second plant: Tillandsia vicentina var. glabra L. B. Smith was not accepted in Smith and Downs Monograph in 1977. Sue Gardner writes however, in a personal note to L. B. Smith that this variety differs besides the glabrous flower bracts, to which the plant owes its name, by the longer internodes, and the longer primary bracts which almost enclose the lower spikes.
  Unfortunately, I never became acquainted with such a plant.
  Harry Luther in DeRebus 1 1994 p38 shows T. vicentina var. wuelfinghoffii as synonym of T. vicentina var. glabra L.B. Smith. On no account can I agree with this proposition. T. vicentina var. wuelfinghoffii has very densely scaled floral bracts and cannot be linked to var.. glabra.
  Adolfo Espejo-Serna et al. in the Mexican Bromeliad Checklist 2004 shows T. vicentina Standley and declares the States of Oaxaca and Chiapas as the range. Espejo also lists T. vicentina var. glabra and T. vicentina var. wuelfinghoffii as synonyms of T. vicentina.
  On many trips through Chiapas, I could never find T. vicentina. There is only the Tillandsia vicentina var wuelfinghoffii as described by Elvira Gross.. It is very wide-spread. In Guatemala however, as well as T. vicentina, you also find plants like T. vicentina var. wuelfinghoffii, but not in the same areas.
  I now show the two plants under discussion, where it is very easily obvious that we are talking about two completely different plants. In my opinion, it is absolutely justifiable that var. wuelfinghoffii should remain. The plant with its much wider, dark green, thin, somewhat shiny leaves with the almost black sheaths, differs very clearly. The inflorescence is not densely digitate rather more long cylindric, composed of much shorter and wider spikes, the sheaths of the primary bracts well exceed the spikes, the floral bracts are crimson not pink, and the petals are smaller.
  The plant grows well and is in many plant collections. They easily offset after flowering and after a few years are flowering once again. —See Rauh 1973-1991