Neoregelia silvomontana Leme & J.A.Siqueira
Literature references:
Comments:
- Neoregelia silvomontana grows in montane Atlantic forest at altitudes over 500m in the mountains of Bahia where it was discovered. Today, it is sparsely distributed locally in very small populations. As an exclusive canopy epiphyte, it is very hard to observe in the field, but it is easily recognized, even at a distance on tree branches high above the ground, due to the bright red color of the leaf apex. It has been seen but not collected in the Barra do Choca region, near Vitoria da Conquista, at altitudes over 500 m in small Atlantic forest fragments and on remaining trees growing alone in pastures,
The fact that N. silvomontana occupies an area with N. pernambucana populations to the north and N. gigas populations (described below) to the south is especially relevant if we consider the selfincompatible flowers of this species. This factor must have contributed effectively to the speciation process of these taxa, creating a biological barrier through reproductive isolation that culminated in the morphological segregation of populations from two geographic extremes, Espirito Santo and Pernambuco.
After collecting the type specimen, we learned that the species had already been introduced into cultivation and in the United States, having been erroneously identified as N. carcharodon (Baker) L. B. Sm. based on rosette shape, with its wide leaves and well developed marginal spines.
Neoregelia silvomontana has not been recorded for any conservation unit, a cause for concern as regards species conservation. Due to flower self-incompatibility in this species, reproduction in cultivation would be strictly vegetative. —See Siqueira & Leme 2007
