"Uncle Derek Says"

Derek Butcher Derek Butcher, of Adelaide, Australia, has spent more than 20 years as a self professed "pseudobotanist," working to unravel the intricacies of Bromeliacae. He is well known in Australia for his book, "An Amateur's Guide to the Greyish Leaved TILLANDSIOIDEAE" to help interpret his favorite genus, Tillandsia, and his checklist to keep order in the hybrids produced in his country. He is the first Australian to have a Bromeliad species named after him - Puya butcheriana
Research in Bolivia (See J. Brom. Soc.52(4): pages 158-65. 2002) has found that there is such a thing as Puya tunarensis which Lyman Smith had treated as being a Puya humilis. At the same time they found that with the information from Puya butcheriana there was reason to broaden the concept of Puya humilis and treat Puya butcheriana as a synonym. So alas I am no more. But do not worry too much because the holotype in Selby Botanical Gardens will still have my name on it and I will survive as a dried specimen!
"Misnamed Bromeliads are irritating. Problems exported to down-under (or Australia if you prefer) with world-wide implications are sometimes solved and we would like to share our findings with you. This page will present information on some of these misnamed bromeliads."

"When showing parentage of hybrids you will notice the use of parent names as used by the hybridist and not the more recent updated name. This is because the emphasis these days is on clones and cultivars, and this way we are getting as close to this concept as we are able. Secondly there are certain unknown factors when showing parentage.

  1. It may be a selfing and not a hybrid as in the alleged XOrthotanthus 'What'.
  2. The identification of either parent may be in doubt so if we know the hybridist and the name used, then trying to correct the situation without the facts only compounds the error. For example we now know that some of Foster's Neo. marmorata were really Neo. chlorosticta but which plants did he use? Another example is Neo. chlorosticta which L B Smith treated as a Neo. sarmentosa and then, some years later changed his mind! There are many more examples."
"In showing the difference between species and cultivars we are using the system as used in the Bromeliad Cultivar Registry. A species is shown totally in lower case and a cultivar in single quotes with the first letter a capital letter. While this is not the interpretation others may have of the International Code of Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants 1995 it is simple and easily understood. The use of X is out even for latinised names. It was difficult to pronounce anyway!"

Please send your comments and opinions to UncleDerekSays@fcbs.org
Your comments will be published on these pages unless you request otherwise.

Uncle Derek Says Index

  1. Aechmea bromeliifolia, 'Brillig', 'Red Bands' and allied hybrids
    OR, Get to know your Aechmea maculata!

  2. Aechmea caudata v. eipperi

  3. Aechmea chantinii

  4. Aechmea 'Covata' and Covata Too'

  5. Aechmea 'Derek's Organensis Ha Ha'

  6. Aechmea 'Derek's Organensis Ha Ha' Revisited

  7. Aechmea ‘Echidna’

  8. Aechmea 'Electra' / 'Electrica'

  9. Aechmea 'Flaming Star / 'Covata'

  10. Aechmea 'Foster's Favorite' Complex

  11. Aechmea 'Gaiters' / caesia

  12. Aechmea gracilis

  13. Aechmea lamarchei

  14. Aechmea nudicaulis v. aureo-rosea

  15. Aechmea organensis

  16. Aechmea orlandiana ss. belloi

  17. Aechmea pimenti-velosoi variegata / 'Pie In The Sky'

  18. Aechmea 'Reginald'/'Reginaldo'

  19. Aechmea seideliana - an identity problem. Revisited in 2006.

  20. Aechmea sphaeroglossa nomen nudum

  21. Andrea 'Karamea Sello'

  22. Androlepis skinneri

  23. Anomalies in Baensch

  24. Billbergia alfonsi-joannis versus Billbergia maxima

  25. Billbergia 'Breauteana' / 'Chas Webb'

  26. Billbergia buchholtzii

  27. Billbergia buchholtzii, the story continues

  28. Billbergia 'Calophylla'

  29. Billbergia 'Calophylla' Part II

  30. Billbergia elegans

  31. Billbergia 'Elfin'

  32. Billbergia fosteriana = Billbergia saundersii ??

  33. Billbergia 'Gerda' / 'Grande' / 'Royal Vase'

  34. Billbergia leptopoda / Billbergia lietzei

  35. Billbergia lietzei var. chlorantha

  36. Billbergia nutans

  37. Billbergia porteana / rosea / zebrina

  38. Billbergia pyramidalis, Or the search for the totally red petalled form

  39. Billbergia 'Rubro-Cyanea' - Does Billbergia 'Rubro-Cyanea' equal 'Hoelscheriana' equal 'Ivey Meyer' equal 'Pixie' ?

  40. Billbergia 'Striata' / Billbergia 'Imposter'

  41. Billbergia 'Windigig Special'

  42. Billbergia 'Windii' / 'Theodore L. Mead'

  43. Some cultivated Bromelias

  44. Canistropsis billbergioides

  45. Canistropsis marceloi

  46. Canistropsis seidelii var. welteri

  47. Canistrum triangulare / fosterianum v. pardinum

  48. Cryptanthus 'Rainbow Star' De-mystified - by Nina Rehak

  49. DEUTEROCOHNIA (That were Abromeitiella)

  50. Ecuadorian Platyaechmea

  51. FASCICULARIA

  52. FORMULAS AND FORMULAE / Vriesea 'Elfi'

  53. Gravisia (A group now swallowed up by Aechmea)

  54. Guzmania sprucei versus dissitiflora

  55. Hechtia tillandsioides

  56. Hohenbergiopsis guatemalensis

  57. In search of the elusive black Neoregelia

  58. Neoregelia amandae

  59. Neoregelia 'Barbara'/Barbie Doll'

  60. Neoregelia 'Bill Morris'

  61. Neoregelia 'Bob'

  62. Neoregelia 'Bob Read' / 'Bob Reads Lad'

  63. Neoregelia 'Bossa Nova' versus 'Sheba'

  64. Neoregelia carolinae var. roseo-striata / farinosa

  65. Neoregelia 'Calypso' / 'Cockabell'

  66. Neoregelia concentrica, 'BELIEVE IT OR NOT'

  67. Neoregelia correia-araujoi, a natural hybrid?

  68. Neoregelia correia-araujoi, a natural hybrid(?) revisited.

  69. Neoregelia dungsiana

  70. Neoregelia 'Ferris'

  71. Neoregelia 'German Hybrid'

  72. Neoregelia 'Green Cherry'

  73. Neoregelia 'Kent's Blue'

  74. Neoregelia 'Massey'

  75. Neoregelia 'Melan'

  76. Neoregelia olens

  77. Neoregelia 'Orange Glow' versus 'Orange Flush'

  78. Neoregelia 'Plutonis' / 'Proserpine'

  79. Neoregelia princeps

  80. Neoregelia 'Princess Caroline'

  81. Neoregelia 'Punctate'

  82. Neoregelia punctatissima

  83. Neoregelia 'Purple Haze' / Neoregelia fosteriana

  84. Neoregelia 'Red Waif'/'Cayenne'

  85. Neoregelia sarmentosa

  86. Neoregelia tristis / Neoregelia 'Freckles' / Neoregelia guttata

  87. Nidularium cariacicaense

  88. Nidularium 'Leprosa'

  89. Nidularium 'Leprosa' ..... take two

  90. Nidularium lubbersianum Hort Leod

  91. Nidularium rubens

  92. Notes on the Checklists of Mexican Bromeliaceae 1994 and 2004

  93. Ochagavia litoralis

  94. Orthophytum 'Ivory Tower'

  95. Orthophytum 'Starlights'

  96. Phylidonyris novaehollandiae and Tillandsia usneoides

  97. Pitcairnia 'Hartwig'

  98. Pitcairnia hitchcockiana

  99. Pitcairnia inermis var. flava

  100. Pitcairnia patentiflora var. subintegra

  101. Portea alatisepala versus Aechmea rubrolilacina

  102. Puya raimondii

  103. Species Database

  104. New Tillandsia Handbook by Hideo Shimizu and Hiroyuki Takisawa.

  105. Tillandsias with Paddle-shaped inflorescences - anceps, cyanea, lindenii, pretiosa, umbellata

  106. Tillandsia albertiana / argentina / dorotheae - Flowering periods in hybrids

  107. Tillandsia hybrids with T. albertiana as one of the parents

  108. Tillandsia boliviensis

  109. Tillandsia 'Califano Too'

  110. Tillandsia carminea 'Dennis'

  111. Tillandsia castellanii

  112. Tillandsia chartacea and I

  113. Tillandsia 'Creamy' - Growing Tillandsias from seed

  114. Tillandsia 'Enano'

  115. Tillandsia 'Floridana'

  116. Tillandsia gutteana

  117. Tillandsia 'Kashkin' / 'Inca Gold'

  118. Tillandsia latifolia

  119. Tillandsia 'Nez Misso'

  120. Tillandsia 'Pfantom' / pfeufferi

  121. DO YOU REALLY KNOW TILLANDSIA POLYSTACHIA?

  122. Tillandsia pucaraensis / guelzii

  123. Tillandsia 'Spanish Gold'

  124. Tillandsia usneoides

  125. Tillandsia-like Vrieseas

  126. Vriesea 'Conferta'

  127. Vriesea 'Corralina'

  128. Vriesea 'Elan'

  129. Vriesea 'Elfi' and 'Elfi Natascha'

  130. Vriesea 'Hoelscheriana'

  131. Vriesea 'Kitteliana'

  132. Vriesea 'Komet'

  133. Vriesea 'Mira'

  134. Vriesea 'Sanderiana'

  135. Vriesea triligulata / 'Seidel 981'

  136. Vriesea 'Van Ackeri' - by Peter Huddy

  137. Vriesea 'Vista Charm' or 'Derek's Dilemma'

  138. Vriesea x morreniana hortus ex E. Morren

  139. Wittrockia 'Leopardinum'

  140. xAnagelia 'Madam Lash' and its siblings 'Toy Boy' and 'Sweet Seduction'

  141. xCanmea 'Galaxy' / xCanmea 'Smokey'

  142. xDeuterocairnia 'Lenny'

  143. xHohenelia 'Nifty Nev'

  144. xNidumea 'Jean'

  145. xNiduregelia 'Ruby Ryde'!

  146. xPuckia 'Sparkle'
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