Tillandsia heteromorpha var. heteromorpha
Literature references:
Comments:
- The protologue by Mez refers to this collection.
The plant grows downwards with age and the stem becomes leafless. The live section at the top is relatively short. It is dense with mostly secund to bent upwards leaves. The diameter of the small rosettes measures less than 3 cm. The leaves are very stiff, somewhat shiny and very short, about 1.5-5 cm. The dry, well-rooted stems above the rosettes are always much longer than the leaves and live for many years. The plants are extremely slow-growing.
It is difficult to recognize the rather different appearances of these small plants from their description alone. Depending on their individual habit they exhibit a somewhat varying density of the leaves on the stem, different leaf lengths (1.5-6 cm), and more or less concentric scales. The herbarium sheet of the type shows three individual plants, all with the same habit.
The form deposited as the type has short, secund leaves and is common at the collection area. At the edge of its range, however, there are two other forms that have not yet been described. Both have longer leaves than the type, their blades are not secund or bent upwards, but rather straight and spreading evenly in all directions. The first (HR 23151) has smooth leaves like the type specimen; the second (HR 4222a), the only form at the site with 10 cm long leaves with short fuzzy scales, is possibly a natural hybrid with T. tectorum var. tectorum, which is also present in this area.
With the exception of the last-mentioned form (HR 4222a), the plants from the type locality have no similarity with T. tectorum vegetatively. —See Hromadnik 2005a
