The genus Bromelia comprises 60 taxa, including species and varieties (Luther 2008; Braun et al. 2008, 2009) distributed over most of South and Central America to Mexico. In Brazil, most of the species are found in the Midwest, Northeast and North, with very few representatives in the South and Southeast. They grow in the Atlantic and Amazon forests, but are more common in the open habitats of Restinga, Cerrado, Campos Rupestres and Caatinga. Most Bromelia species are terrestrial, but a few are saxicolous and one is epiphytic. They may grow as isolated plants or in huge colonies made impenetrable by large, uncinate marginal leaf teeth, like cat's claws, that characterise the genus, specially those species nwith linear leaf blades.
The phylogeny and anatomy of most of the Brazilian species was recently investigated by Monteiro (2009), who provided some interesting insights on the relationships of the genus. On the other hand, the lectotypification of two species was proposed by Forzza et al. (2009).
Despite this, these papers represent important steps toward a better understanding of the genus, most of the crucial taxonomic doubts, mainly in the species rank, remain unanswered and constitute a real barrier to a faster progress in accessing the biodiversity potentiality of the genus in Brazil. However, in some specific cases, it is possible to recognise some new taxa, as a typical inhabitant of the Atlantic forest biome in the state of Bahia, Northeast Brazil, as presented here.
