Hohenbergia burle-marxii Leme & W.Till |
(subgen. Hohenbergia)Publ: Bromélia 3(1): 28-32 (1996)
Distribution: BRAZIL; Bahia,
Etymology: For several years now, we have observed flowering in a strange Hohenbergia species collected by Roberto Burle Marx and Luiz K. Correia de Araujo in Bahia, Brazil. This plant grows in the gardens of Burle Marx's country home in Guaratiba, Rio de Janeiro. An attractive plant with beautiful foliage, this bromeliad has large, densely arranged leaves that are purple colored for the most part and covered with dark spots. It soon became evident that this species had not yet been described. We told Burle Marx that the species would be named after him, an honor to the man who first used bromeliads in landscape design and who was an honorary member of the SBBr. Time went by, other botanical concerns took precedence and the beautiful Hohenbergia remained tucked away in the pending file and the object of this tribute left this world.