Tillandsia Dotterer Click thumbnails for full size, scaled to a new window.
Tillandsia Dotterer
Not yet registered (27/05/12). Name suggested by Derek Butcher.
Variety of T. latifolia (var. divaricata?)
Peter Tristram 19/05/12
Peter Tristram 24/05/12 as latifolia v divaricata Giant KK
Derek Butcher 22/05/12
Peter Tristram 19/05/2012......
How long/tall are your latifolias?
This plant is one of a few survivors from a Knize import about 5 or 6 years back. Nearly everything died following a damned good gassing and a heat wave just before release, the survivors being mainly pieces of stem of caulescent species like this one. Originally there would have been about 10-20 plants of each form/species and this is it for this form of latifolia.
Now what's so special? It's gigantic! This plant is over 2m long with the inflorescence about 1.6m, the foliage is also huge, arching over and recurving almost in a circle. It has been grown in my original open-sided tunnel with no special attention. Derek Butcher 20/05/12.....
That looks like what I call 'Dotterer'. In 1996 Len & I were at Dotterer's nursery in Germany and there had just been a shipment from Knize.
There seemed to be thousands of plants there. Renate Ehlers was not that interested because of the lack of collection data but that did not stop the Len/Derek debates as to identity.
We acquired 'several' plants each and most survived the gassing. One of the large ones flowered for me and although a Tillandisa latifolia I could not decide which of Smith's varieties it was. It wasn't divaricata because the floral bracts were not 15mm long.
Now might be the time to give a cultivar name to this form because there are so many different shapes and sizes in this species and some like 'Dotterer'
don't fit into the varietal descriptions. Peter Tristram 22/05/12.....
I also measured the giant form, as well as a few other 'divaricata' types (long caulescent, long infl with divergent branches, fb orange to red, rarely pink in my stock, fb vary from shiny to scaled too) and they vary from about 15 to 20mm though shorter near the tips of the branches. On the coast of Peru I saw lots of var major types though not all large growers, var leucophylla only in one gorge near Chongoyape between Chiclayo and Chota and var divaricata in this area too and further into the Andes at varying altiudes. To me they come from different life zones but there would have to be overlaps.
I don't think the description is very accurate. It's all evolution in progress. Peter Tristram 24/05/12......
Yours sure looks similar too. I took a couple of macros today before the rain tomorrow to compare. I think under shade cloth mine would go very red, rather like a plant I collected though it doesn't have the recurved leaves but also has a very long, orange/red inflorescence. It is a shy pupper though so I hope this form is more prolific.
