Leaves to 10 in a slenderly funnelform rosette, pale green, obscurely spotted, to 4 dm long;
Sheaths large, elliptic, dark reddish above;
Blades ligulate, broadly rounded, minutely apiculate, to 6 cm wide, finely serrulate.
Scape sub-erect, slender, glabrous, shorter than the leaves;
Scape-bracts large, elliptic, acute, bright rose.
Inflorescence suberect, few-flowered, usually with a single one-flowered branch at base and elsewhere simple, to 12 cm long, 8 cm in diameter, glabrous.
Floral bracts minute, triangular;
Flowers sessile, to 70 mm long.
Sepals oblong, emarginate and without a mucro, 25 mm long, green except the dark blue apex;
Petals to 50 mm long, never spiral, the part above the sepals dark blue, bearing 2 coarsely serrate scales at base;
Stamens slightly shorter than the petals;
Ovary cylindric, 20 mm long, sulcate, pale green.
Type. Berlin Hortus s n (holotype, B; photo F 11335),
No collection details were given and as Lyman Smith was later to comment this is probably of hybrid origin.
This would have been the only information about the plant known to growers in 1961 where we read in the Bromeliad Society Bulletin 11(1)12. by J. A. Giridlian;
"After Mr. Atkinson's death these plants were widely distributed by Evans & Reeves Nursery of Los Angeles under the name of B. enderi hybrids, enderi being a synonym for B. amoena which now has been identified as B. buchholtzii. Since I have three very distinct plants all of which have been identified with the same name, I call this one B. buchholtzii No.1. This particular plant is a low growing, slender plant with a very brilliant orange-red bract. It has been used many times in crossing with other species to impart this bright orange coloring to its progeny, which indeed it does. These characteristics are shown in the hybrid plant under discussion because it is lower growing than any B. vittata I have ever seen, and the color of the bract is bright warm red, a color I have never encountered in the true vittata, no matter how variable. Also, along with other hybrid Billbergias, it has the habit of blooming more than once a year."
In hindsight it is easy to comment but botanically B. enderi has never been linked to B. amoena but more to Quesnelia lateralis a much different looking plant. BUT how can you possibly get three very distinct forms of an alleged species? I have strong suspicions that B. buchholtzii No.1 is linked to 'Wendii' or 'Windigig Special' but that is another story.
In the 1962 Bromeliad Society Bulletin 12(3)46. Mulford Foster wrote
B. buchholtzii - This plant does not appear in any listings of commercial growers, but Oakhurst Gardens in southern California has for sale three variations. Whether these belong under the listing of B. buchholtzii is not known. However, the plants so named are very attractive. No. 1 is a dwarf form with brilliant orange-scarlet bracts and deep blue flowers. When well established, it will have several blooming periods a year. No.2 has tall, light green foliage..rose bracts and lavender flowers. No.3 has very attractive leaves of huge size, deep green with bronze shadings and barred transversely with gray. It becomes purplish in the sun. The flowers are violet with pink bracts.
In 1968 BSB 18(1):10 Ed McWilliams wrote about billbergias and this is what he had to say about B. buchholtzii. "This species is very similar to B. amoena but with petal blade wholly blue. The taxon is often misidentified in the trade."
In 1979 in Flora Neotropica Lyman Smith added the following references to this taxon Atkinson 44 (? clonotypes GH, US); New York Botanical Garden s n (? clonotypes NY, US).
It seems clear to me that Atkinson was in touch with Lyman Smith as to the true identity of B. buchholtzii but this information was forgotten by or unknown to Evans and Reeves when they purchased these plants (See Giridlian's article in 1961- above)
In 2000 at the WBC in San Francisco there were two completely different looking plants with B. buchholtzii on the label which alerted me to a long standing problem that nobody had addressed.
| These two plants were shown at 2000 WBC as Billbergia buchholtzii. The one on the left, shown by Tom Koerber is the true Billbergia buchholtzii. The one on the right, shown by Dan Kinnard is not Billbergia buchholtzii. | |
|
|
