Werauhia montana (L.B.Sm.) J.F.Morales & Cerén
Taxonomic Change:
- Treated as a synonym of Vriesea nephrolepis L.B.Sm. & Pittendrigh —See Utley 1983 p. 37
- Considered distinct from Werauhia nephrolepis (L.B. Sm. & Pittendr.) J.R. Grant, based on a study of material from populations in El Salvador and Honduras and Costa Rica and Panama —See Morales & Cerén 2009 p. 345
Literature references:
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Comments:
- Observations. Thecophyllum montanum was proposed as a synonym of Werauhia nephrolepis (L.B. Sm. & Pittendr.) J.R. Grant by Utley (1983), who points out that the type collections of both species were practically identical and that the supposed differences among the colour of the leaf blade, the size and the density of the primary bracts and the form of the floral bracts of the type for T. montanum fell inside the range of the morphological variations observed for W. nephrolepis (treated as Vriesea). This proposal was followed in subsequent floristic treatments for the region of Mesoamerica ( e.g., Morales, 2003; Utley & Burt-Utley, 1994; Utley et al, 2001).
After the study of different populations in Costa Rica, as well as in the region of the Montecristo National Park in the Department of Santa Ana, El Salvador showed that the present populations in El Salvador and Honduras (similar to the type of T montanum) are different to those present in Costa Rica and Panama, which had been known as W. nephrolepis. Therefore, a new combination in the genus Werauhia is necessary. The more notable differences between W. montana and W. nephrolepis lies in the number of branches of the inflorescence (3-5 vs. more than 10), the texture of the primary bracts (smooth vs. conspicuously rugose toward the base), the length of the sepals (0,9-1,3(-1,5) vs. 1,5-2,5cm), the symmetry of the corolla (slightly zygomorphic and tubular vs. conspicuously zygomorphic) and the length of the petals (2-2,4 vs. 3,4 to 5,7 cm) —See Morales & Cerén 2009 p. 345