Tillandsia brachycaulos x caput-medusae
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Tillandsia brachycaulos x caput-medusae
Natural hybrid of brachycaulos x caput-medusae
From Derek Butchers Talk at Cairns 2008....
"How many of you think that T. brachycaulos var. multiflora means a T. brachycaulos with lots of flowers? I am sure many people do because I have often obtained a plant with this name only to be greatly disappointed when it flowered. You see I am looking for spikes with more than the usual 1 or 2 flowers. T. brachycaulos var multiflora was treated by Lyman Smith as a proper variety and next to it is recorded a T. brachycaulos x caput-medusae with no comment as to their similarity. In 1994 in Flora Mesoamericana, Utley referred to T. brachycaulos v. multiflora as being apparently a hybrid between T. brachycaulos and T. caput-medusae but did nothing about giving it a hybrid name. This left a vacuum with the name T. brachycaulos v. multiflora still being used in the trade.
I believe that this hybrid is rare in Australia even though it has been on BirdRock lists for many years. Who grows this plant? How many flowers does it have? It should look like this."
See DD1008. Natural Hybrid Talk for more details.
Chris Larson 06/17 ... "This is one I got, I think, from Bob Hudson as T. brachycaulos X caput-medusae. I’m not sure who did it."
Bob Hudson ... "This one I got on our last trip to USA, Russels I think."
Ian Hook ... "Chris: take a look on the BinA web under that cross and also the Detective Derek article. Looks like it's time to give it a Cultivar name."
Derek Butcher ... "The quoted parents look suspect too. I agree it needs to be given a name, perhaps 'Russell's Blue'"
Updated 06/07/07