Nidularium azureum (L.B.Sm.) Leme
Literature references:
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Comments:
- Distribution & Habitat
Nidularium azureum is endemic to the area around Coronel Pacheco, Minas Gerais. All of the known specimens are from the same microsite. This delicate bromeliad lives in the deeply shaded understory of swamp forests often flooded by small streams within the Atlantic Forest domain. It grows as an epiphyte on tree trunks from 1 to 1.5 m above the ground. Small populations were found in the more preserved parts of the forest, becoming more common near streams where epiphytes abound. Other sympatric species seen in the area were Aechmea ramosa var. ramosa, the very rare Billbergia reichardtii, Neoreoregelia sp. and large populations of Vriesea incurvata.
Today, this species is critically endangered, since the only forest fragment where it grows is losing ground to deforestation. Two different clones from the only known population were introduced into cultivation. —See Leme 2000a
