Handbook of the Bromeliaceae / [John Gilbert Baker].

  • John Gilbert Baker
Date:
1889
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Handbook of the Bromeliaceae / [John Gilbert Baker]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    tips. Panicle rliomboicl, 3 ft. long ; branches laxly-flowered, erecto-patent, ascending, the lower 1^-2 ft. long, sterile in the lower third; branch-bracts small, ovate ; flower-bracts ovate, 1:1-1 J in. long. Calyx green, hi. longer than the bract. Petal- blade lanceolate, whitish, as long as the calyx. Stamens as long as the petals. Hab. Chiriqui, imported by Van Houtte in 1879. Flowered in 1885. Near T. rtgina. 803. T. GKANDis Schlecht. in Linnfea xvii. 424.—Leaves lorate from a dilated base 3 in. broad, 1^-2 ft. long, 2 in. broad at the middle, thin, flexible, deltoid-cuspidate at the apex. Inflorescence an ample panicle ; lower branches 1^ ft. long, the lowest half-foot sterile; flowers ^-1 in. apart; flower-bracts ovate-oblong, obtuse, ft. long, an inch broad. Calyx just exceeding the bract; sepals oblong, obtuse, above in. broad. Petals not seen. Capsule oblong, 2 in. long. Hab. Mexico; Hacienda do la Laguna, Schiede (& Deppe (Herb. Mus. Berol.). Nearly allied to T. regina. There is a closely allied plant in the Morren drawings, without name or locality, with shorter denser spikes and lanceolate white petals three inches longer than the calyx. 804. T. REGINA Veil. FI. Flum. iii. t. 142. Vnesea regina Beer ; Wawra Itin. Prin. Sax. Cob. 163, t. 36 a; Card. Chron. 1875, fig. 41; Antoine Brom. t. 9-10 (M.D.). F. gigantea Lemaire in 111. Hort. t. 516. V. Glazioviana Lemaire. V. geniculata Wawra Eeise Kais. Max. 159, t. 25. F. imperialis and HiLlegeeriana Hort. —Whole plant reaching a height of 8-10 feet. Leaves 30-50, densely rosulate, lorate from an ovate base 6-9 in. broad, 8-4 ft. long, 3-4 in. broad at the middle, narrowed to the point, thin, flexible, subglabrous, pale green with a glaucous bloom. Peduncle over- topping the leaves; bract-leaves crowded, with ovate-lanceolate spreading tips. Panicle deltoid, 4-5 ft. long; branches many, lower 1-1^ ft. long, spreadmg or ascending ; branch-bracts green, ovate-cuspidate, lower 6-9 in. long; flower-bracts green, ovate, 1-1^ in. long. Calyx 1^-2 in. long ; sepals oblong, obtuse. Petal-blade lanceolate, white, reaching a length of 2-3 in. Stamens as long as the petals. Capsule oblong, 1^-2 in. long. Hab. South Brazil; forests of Rio Janeiro and St. Paulo. Collected by Burchell in 1820 and introduced into cultivation by Linden in 1868. This is the giant of the genus. It is the type of Morren’s subgenus Alcantarcea, named after the Emperor of Brazil, characterised by its long narrow petal-blade and long stamens. V. gigantea Lemaire, is a form with shorter deflexed branches than in the type and more crowded flowers. V. gigantea Gaudich. Atlas, Bonite t. 70, from Santa Catherina, seems to be a starved variety of the same species with calyx only an inch long. (Another very large species, 9—12 ft. high, with a very ample laxly bipinnate panicle, gathered by Roezl in New Granada in the province of Cauca, is mentioned in Haage and Schmidt’s catalogue in 1872, under the name of T. gigantea. 305. T. PANicuLATA Liuii. Sp. Plant. 410 (Plum. Ic. t. 237). — Habit of T. regina, alta and grmulis. Leaves large, lanceolate, densely rosulate. Panicle very large, with spreading branches and short ~secund laxly-flowered ascending branchlets; flower-bracts oblong, acute, shorter than the calyx. Calyx 2 in. long; sepals