"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 Fulgens/Miniata Group

  12. Aechmea 'Gaiters' / caesia

  13. Aechmea gracilis

  14. Aechmea lamarchei

  15. Aechmea nudicaulis v. aureo-rosea

  16. Aechmea organensis

  17. Aechmea orlandiana ss. belloi

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

  19. Aechmea 'Pinegrove Lass' or is it xBillnelia 'Sebastian Laruelle'?

  20. Aechmea 'Polyantha'

  21. Aechmea 'Reginald'/'Reginaldo'

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

  23. Aechmea serrata

  24. Aechmea sphaeroglossa nomen nudum

  25. xAechopsis 'Karamea Sello'

  26. Androlepis skinneri

  27. Anomalies in Baensch

  28. Billbergia alfonsi-joannis versus Billbergia maxima

  29. Billbergia brachysiphon

  30. Billbergia 'Breauteana' / 'Chas Webb'

  31. Billbergia buchholtzii

  32. Billbergia buchholtzii, now 'Buchholtzii'

  33. Billbergia 'Calophylla'

  34. Billbergia 'Calophylla' Part II

  35. Billbergia elegans

  36. Billbergia 'Elfin'

  37. Billbergia fosteriana = Billbergia saundersii ??

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

  39. Billbergia leptopoda / Billbergia lietzei

  40. Billbergia lietzei var. chlorantha

  41. Billbergia magnifica versus Billbergia alfonsi-joannis

  42. Billbergia nutans

  43. Billbergia porteana / rosea / zebrina

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

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

  46. Billbergia 'Striata' / Billbergia 'Imposter'

  47. Billbergia 'Windigig Special'

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

  49. Some cultivated Bromelias

  50. Bromelia pinguin

  51. Canistropsis billbergioides

  52. Canistropsis marceloi

  53. Canistropsis seidelii var. welteri

  54. Canistrum triangulare / fosterianum v. pardinum

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

  56. DEUTEROCOHNIA (That were Abromeitiella)

  57. Ecuadorian Platyaechmea

  58. Edmundoa 'Alvim Seidel'

  59. FASCICULARIA

  60. FORMULAS AND FORMULAE / Vriesea 'Elfi'

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

  62. Guzmania 'Penny Wise'

  63. Guzmania sprucei versus dissitiflora

  64. Hechtia tillandsioides

  65. Hohenbergiopsis guatemalensis

  66. In search of the elusive black Neoregelia

  67. Neoregelia amandae

  68. Neoregelia 'Barbara'/Barbie Doll'

  69. Neoregelia 'Bill Morris'

  70. Neoregelia 'Blue Shark'

  71. Neoregelia 'Bob'

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

  73. Neoregelia 'Bossa Nova' versus 'Sheba'

  74. Neoregelia carolinae var. roseo-striata / farinosa

  75. Neoregelia 'Calypso' / 'Cockabell'

  76. Neoregelia concentrica, 'BELIEVE IT OR NOT'

  77. Neoregelia correia-araujoi, a natural hybrid?

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

  79. Neoregelia dungsiana

  80. Neoregelia 'Ferris'

  81. Neoregelia 'German Hybrid'

  82. Neoregelia 'Green Cherry'

  83. Neoregelia hatschbachii really 'Monstrosus'

  84. Neoregelia 'Heart Music' and 'Heart Music Too'

  85. Neoregelia 'Kent's Blue'

  86. Neoregelia 'Marble Throat' hybrids

  87. Neoregelia 'Marcon'

  88. Neoregelia 'Massey'

  89. Neoregelia 'Melan'

  90. Neoregelia olens

  91. Neoregelia 'Orange Glow' versus 'Orange Flush'

  92. Neoregelia 'Plutonis' / 'Proserpine'

  93. Neoregelia princeps

  94. Neoregelia 'Princess Caroline'

  95. Neoregelia 'Punctate'

  96. Neoregelia punctatissima

  97. Neoregelia 'Purple Haze' / Neoregelia fosteriana

  98. Neoregelia 'Red Waif'/'Cayenne'

  99. Neoregelia sarmentosa

  100. Neoregelia 'Takemura Grande'

  101. Neoregelia tristis / Neoregelia 'Freckles' / Neoregelia guttata

  102. Neoregelia uleana / Neoregelia 'Yuletide'

  103. Nidularium cariacicaense

  104. Nidularium 'Leprosa'

  105. Nidularium 'Leprosa' ..... take two

  106. Nidularium lubbersianum Hort Leod

  107. Nidularium Morobe mess

  108. Nidularium rubens

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

  110. Ochagavia litoralis

  111. Orthophytum 'Ivory Tower'

  112. Orthophytum 'Starlights'

  113. Phylidonyris novaehollandiae and Tillandsia usneoides

  114. Pitcairnia 'Hartwig'

  115. Pitcairnia hitchcockiana

  116. Pitcairnia inermis var. flava

  117. Pitcairnia patentiflora var. subintegra

  118. Portea alatisepala versus Aechmea rubrolilacina

  119. Portea petropolitana var. extensa

  120. Puya raimondii

  121. Species Database

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

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

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

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

  126. Tillandsia balbisiana as havanensis

  127. Tillandsia boliviensis

  128. Tillandsia 'Califano Too'

  129. Tillandsia carminea 'Dennis'

  130. Tillandsia castellanii

  131. Tillandsia chartacea and I

  132. Tillandsia 'Creamy' - Growing Tillandsias from seed

  133. Tillandsia 'Enano'

  134. Tillandsia 'Floridana'

  135. Tillandsia gutteana

  136. Tillandsia 'Kashkin' / 'Inca Gold'

  137. Tillandsia latifolia

  138. Tillandsia 'Nez Misso'

  139. Tillandsia 'Pfantom' / pfeufferi

  140. DO YOU REALLY KNOW TILLANDSIA POLYSTACHIA?

  141. Tillandsia pucaraensis / guelzii

  142. Tillandsia 'Spanish Gold'

  143. Tillandsia usneoides

  144. Tillandsia-like Vrieseas

  145. Vriesea 'Brentwood'

  146. Vriesea 'Conferta'

  147. Vriesea 'Corralina'

  148. Vriesea 'Elan'

  149. Vriesea 'Elfi' and 'Elfi Natascha'

  150. Vriesea 'Goldfinger'

  151. Vriesea 'Hoelscheriana'

  152. Vriesea 'Kitteliana'

  153. Vriesea 'Komet'

  154. Vriesea 'Mira'

  155. Vriesea 'Sanderiana'

  156. Vriesea 'Snow White'

  157. Vriesea triligulata / 'Seidel 981'

  158. Vriesea 'Van Ackeri' - by Peter Huddy

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

  160. Vriesea x morreniana hortus ex E. Morren

  161. What is a mule? / xNeomea 'Mad Allan' / 'Scarlet Ladd'

  162. Wittrockia 'Leopardinum'

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

  164. xCanmea 'Galaxy' / xCanmea 'Smokey'

  165. xDeuterocairnia 'Lenny'

  166. xHohenelia 'Nifty Nev'

  167. xNidumea 'Jean'

  168. xNiduregelia 'Ruby Ryde'!

  169. xPuckia 'Sparkle'
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