Any bromelia experts?

16 years ago

Hey guys, anyone familiar with different species of Bromelia? Any guesses for ID?

This first one is a small little plant, this one was maybe ~12" tall about half the size of the largest we saw. The leaves are 'soft' and papery for a Bromelia and tend to curl over at the tips. Unfortunately I did not see any in bloom. Location was in the state of Michoacan. They also seem to need more shade than most Bromelias.

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These other buggers were much bigger, and more typical of Bromelias...stiff and spiny. It was very widespread through the state of Jalisco. These are just south and inland from Puerto Vallarta.

Habitat was open and rocky oak forest.

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This clump was well over 7 feet tall in the center as the plants were all crowding each other tightly.

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This one was coming into bloom...

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...But had the space to spread out so it wasn't quite as tall.

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Lots were coming into bloom, but this was the only one we could find that was actually in full bloom.

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Comments (6)

paul_t23
16 years ago
Hi Andy, I'm no Bromelia expert and I can't help with the id's, but it is always great to see some habitat shots. Thanks a lot for sharing them. Cheers, Paul
bromadams
16 years ago
Could be karatas?

"The giant terrestrial Bromelia karatas has leaves which often reach six to nine feet in length and is almost too rank for the ordinary garden. Unlike most of the Bromelias this species produces its flowers in a dense, flat almost stemless head. The huge nest of purple flowers later produce large, four-inch yellow fruits which are edible, and can be made into a drink or dulce."
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sdandy
Original Author
16 years ago
Awesome, thanks. Looks to be a match. The pictures on FCBS don't do this plant justice. Other than that reference I wouldn't have thought that those pictures were the same plant as what I saw.
-andy
splinter1804
16 years ago
Hi Andy,

Always great to see pic's of brom's in the wild and to see pic's of these giants in habitat on this forum is pretty rare.

Last year I bought some seed of Bromelia Pinguin, simply because it was something different I hadn't heard of before. What a shock I got when I read just how big they would grow to in adulthood, but it has a really beautiful flower even though from what I read, I won't be around when and if they eventually do bloom quite some years from now, interesting nevertheless. Below is a copy of the pic that came with the seed.

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Thanks for sharing the pic's of your interesting travels, and please keep 'em coming.

All the best, Nev.
sdandy
Original Author
16 years ago
No problem Nev and Paul. It is definitely great and different seeing things in their natural habitat and since you guys enjoy it I will keep sprinkling in some posts. I am still going through the pictures from this winter and keep 'discovering' cool things that I saw. And I also have to prove to you guys that there are more than just Hechtias that I saw down there (as I know some people have probably had enough! Ha ha).
-andy
paul_t23
16 years ago
Never enough, Andy. Please keep those habitat shots coming! It is just such a buzz to see these plants doing their thing and trying to think what sense it makes of the way they are ..... if that makes any sense! Cheers, Paul