18

genus Catopsis Griseb.

(tribus Catopsideae)

Publ: Fl. Brit. W. Ind. [i]-xvi: 599 (1865)

Type: Tillandsia nitida Hook. (see Grant & Zijlstra 1998)

Number of species: 19
   and 3 infraspecific taxa
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Genus Notes:

Nachr. Königl. Ges. Wiss. Georg-Augusts-Univ. 1864: 10, 12. 13 Jan 1864, an avowed substitute for Tussacia Willd. ex Beer, Fam. Bromel.: 21, 99. Sep-Oct 1856 (‘1857’), not Tussacia Willd. ex Schult. & Schult.f. in Roem. & Schult., Syst. veg. 7(1): x, 57. 1829 (phan.-incertae sedis), nor Tussacia Benth., London J. Bot. 5: 364. 1846 (Gesneriaceae).
Lecto Type Tillandsia nitida Hook., Exot. Fl. 3: ad t. 218. 1827, designated here. Tussacia nitida (Hook.) Beer, Fam. Bromel.: 100. Sep-Oct 1856 (‘1857’). Catopsis nitida (Hook.) Griseb., Nachr. Königl. Ges. Wiss. Georg-Augusts-Univ. 1864: 21. 13 Jan 1864. Most sources erroneously cite the publication of Catopsis as from Fl. Brit. W. Ind.: 599. Oct 1864, and its type as Tillandsia nutans Sw., Prod. Veg. Ind. Occ. 56. 1788; Catopsis nutans (Sw.) Griseb., Fl. Brit. W. Ind.: 599. 1864. Nevertheless, the type can not be T. nutans as it was not an originally attributed species of Tussacia. Currently recognized in the subfam. Tillandsioideae. From the Greek kata, hanging down, and opsis, sight or appearance, which refers to the position of its seeds, where the funiculi are curved and the seeds hang down from them.
(from Grant & Zijlstra 1998)