Ken Woods.

Ken Woods 11/06

George Nieuwenhoven 02/08.

Derek Butcher 01/17 -seed from Knize 1991 !

George Nieuwenhoven 01/19

Bruce Dunstan 08/21

George Nieuwenhoven ... "This must be one of the easiest Tillandsias to grow. Beautiful flowers and heavenly scent, comes in white as well."
Peter Tristram ... "You cannot have too many of these! How do you tell it from reichenbachii? Just one to ponder! Send it to me and I’ll cross it with erici - all of mine have finished blooming!"
George Nieuwenhoven ... "My reichenbachii appears smaller in stature and flowers are more open on it, apart from that they could easily be the same species. For now I will keep the original name on them. Oh, and not to forget they bloom at the same time so what you are alluding to is probably correct."
Bruce Dunstan ... "This is by far the largest T. streptocarpa I grow. It originated with Wally Berg and was brought back from Tropiflora by Greg Aizelwood."

Peter Tristram 12/10. (Weiss) N.B. 01/12. This form is listed as 'Succulent Silver' pending registration or further detail. 07/20. Now called T. santiagoensis

Bruce Dunstan 10/17 ex. Peter Tristram

Bruce Dunstan ... "First flowering of this plant for me. It is a few weeks ahead of the white streptocarpa that Bob Hudson has already flowered in Sunny Cairns. This has the beautiful scent and shares both parents in the resulting flowers."

Peter Tristram 12/11 streptocarpa White from Lotte Hromadnik.

Peter Tristram 12/11 streptocarpa White from Burkhard Holm.

Bruce Dunstan 12/11 as streptocarpa White.

Peter Tristram 12/11 as reichenbachii White from Barry Genn.

Refer also to T. reichenbachii. See discussion below (not yet complete?) from Tillandsia discussion group...

Peter Tristram 19/12/11 - I decided to take some pics of a plant Barry Genn recently (very) gave me. It is referred to as T. reichenbachii White (flowered form) and a lovely little beauty at that. As you can see there is some pigment in those petals. What struck me was the close resemblance to a plant from Burkhard Holm - plant obtained as seedling from T. streptocarpa White and probably a cross of White with the normal form. Once again, interesting pigmentation on close examination. A macro of the white streptocarpa from Lotte is also attached and this one is all white with a yellow corolla – there is variation in this group of Lotte’s collected plants.
Apart from how lovely these forms are, the name reichenbachii again confuses me. All of the plants I have seen and imported as either reichenbachii or tucumanensis (synonyms) are very small, only about 10-15cm in bloom whereas the descriptions refer to plants of 20cm or more with a dense rosette of polystichous leaves. Uwe Scharf has spent considerable time studying the complex including streptocarpa, arhiza, retrorsa, paleacea, duratii, graomogolensis and so on, both in the extensive European collections and in the wild. He makes interesting listening on this group, so I am going to ask if he has a summary he can help us with.
Chris Larson 20/12/11 - What I saw in the valley immediately to the north of Tucuman & most other places around NW Argentina was this smaller “reichenbachii” – the one we generally call reichenbachii here. Remember that Marj collected either 2 or 3 times in this area before she went there with me. I remember one locality in particular, probably somewhere near Salta or Jujuy, there was a location where there were heaps of what we call reichenbachii - and there were different coloured flowers at the same locality in dry scrubby forest, including the white one. Both Marj & I bought back a fair bit of the white one.
There is a form of “reichenbachii” that, I think, Cliff Norden used to sell at the BSA shows, which was quite a bit larger than the ones Marj & I collected, more like the 20cm plants of which you speak. Many nutters must have the descendants of Cliff’s seedlings – as well as Marj’s.
The strepto white from Holm can also be blue. I think that he may have been referring to foliage! It is certainly a chunky little white plant.
Bruce Dunstan 24/12/11 - My White streptocarpa flowered and it's white and purple as well.
Peter Tristram 24/12/11 - Hi Bruce. Was it from me? I have whites from 2 sources and only a couple of the Hromadnik ones are pure white, albeit with a yellow corolla.

Tillandsia streptocarpa Baker var. aureiflora Rauh, Trop. Subtrop. Pflanz. 50: 14-16. 1984
A typo differt inflorescentibus elongatis, spicis erectis rhachidi accumbentibus et floribus
minoribus luteis.
Holotypus : Hort. Bot. Heidelb. 31947, in herb. inst. bot. system. heidelb. (HEID).
Habitat: Bolivia, in sylvis siccis prope Cochabamba apud 1200 m. s. m.
Plant short stemmed, flowering 30 – 60cm high.
Leaves numerous, forming a lax rosette.
Sheath encloses the stem, broad oval to roundish, dense lepidote.
Blade spreading to bent backwards, to 20cm long, narrow triangular, 1.5cm wide at base, long acuminate, the tip rolled into many spirals, both sides dense appressed lepidote.
Scape erect to bent, 15 –30cm long, 3 – 5mm thick, round, green, glabrous.
Scape bracts the bottom ones leaflike, the upper ones with stem clasping, longer, dense lepidote sheaths, and much shorter to missing blade.
Inflorescence very laxly bipinnate, 15 – 20cm long, to 2cm wide, with 8 – 10 erect spikes adjacent to the main axis.
Primary bracts almost as long as the spikes, erect, 5 – 2cm long, green, dense grey lepidote, soon drying to a paper colour.
Spikes erect, ca 2cm long stem, 5cm long excluding the stem, narrow linear, 4mm wide, 4 – 5 flowered.
Floral bracts distichous, 1.2cm long, 3.5mm wide, thin membranous, not keeled, nerved, weakly lepidote, longer than the sepals.
Sepals 1cm long, 3mm wide, not keeled, free, thin, light green, red at tip, nerved, glabrous.
Petals 2cm long, with a broad rounded bent over, 5mm wide, yellow platte.
Stamens and Stigma enclosed.
Type locality Dry country near Cochabamba, 1200m, Bolivia.
Holotype BGH 31 947 (10/1973) HEID
Differs from TYPE in
1. Inflorescence long.
2. Spikes erect, adjacent to the main axis.
3. Flowers smaller, yellow.

Detail from Baker 1889
23. T. CONDENSATA Baker.
Leaves densely rosulate, subulate from the clasping base, an inch long, densely laxly lepidote.
Peduncle 1-3 in. long.
Inflorescence a dense simple distichous spike 1-2 in. long, ¼-? in. broad;
flower-bracts oblong-lanceolate, ¼-? in. long.
Calyx as long as the flower-bract.
Petal-blade obovate, red-lilac, ¼ in. long.
Stamens not longer than the calyx.
Hab. Andes of Bolivia, Weddell ! (Herb. Mus. Par.). Near T. scalarifolia.

25. T. BAKERIANA Britten in Journ. Bot. 1888, 170.
T. tricholepis Baker olim.-
Leafy stem very short.
Leaves linear- subulate, 3-4 in, long, ? in. broad at the base of the blade, ascending, rigid, deeply channelled down the lower part of the face, densely clothed all over with hair-pointed spreading scales.
Peduncle 4-5 in. long; bract-leaves many, small, scariose, adpressed.
Flowers 2-3 in a dense spike;
flower-bracts oblong-lanceolate, rigid, glabrous, ? in. long.
Calyx as long as the bract;
sepals very much imbricated.
Petal-blade suborbicular, red-purple, ¼ in.long.
Stamens not longer than the calyx.
Hab. South Brazil, Glaziou 13243 !
Allied to T. linearis.

34. T. SORATENSIS Baker in Journ. Bot. 1887, 235.-
Leaves spread over a stem a few inches long, lanceolate-setaceous, 8-10 in. long, ½-¾ in. broad low down, very rigid, not circinate at the apex, densely finely lepidote all over.
Peduncle ½ ft. long;
bract-leaves with long free subulate points.
Inflorescence a dense short panicle consisting of many dense spikes an inch long, ? in. broad;
flower bracts oblong-lanceolate, glossy, ? in. long.
Calyx as long as the bract.
Petal-blade purple, obovate-cuneate, ? in. long and broad.
Stamens not longer than the calyx.
Hab Andes of Bolivia; Sorata, alt. 8000 ft., Mandon 1185 ! Very near T. Duratii.

Detail from Mez 1935
345. T. apoloensis Rusby in Bull. N. York Bot. Gard. VI. (1910) 489. –
Griseo-tomentosa, inflorescentia subglabra. Folia radicalia basaliaque, superne in bracteas vagina¬ceas reducta, valde reflexa, 15-25 cm longa, basi 8 mm lata inde sensim regulariterque in apicem longe attenuatum leviter involutum angustata, margine incurva. Vaginae scapales longe vaginantes, valde nervosae, sursum sensim minutae. Scapus ad 3 cm longus, in spicas specimini typico 8 sessiles, ad 3-4 cm longas et 5-6 mm latas laxe capitatim desinens. Flores distichi, dense imbricati. Bracteae 6-10 mm longae, valide 7-11¬costatae, sueto obtusae, crassae rigidaeque. Sepala 10-12 mm longa, florem arcte in-volventia. Corolla 8 mm longa, tubo brevissimo, petalis ovatis, 6 mm latis, tenuiter fla-bellatim multinerviis, ligulis destitutis. Filamenta brevissima tenuiaque. Stigmata an¬theras medio aequantia. Ovarium antherarum longitudine vel paullo longius, ovale, stylo antheris subduplo breviore, crasso, angulato. Fructus ignotus.
Bolivia : Apolo (Rusby n. 1483). - Non vidi; diagn. ex cl. Rusby, l. c.

Tillandsia streptocarpa var. pungens, Chodat & Vischer , Bull Soc Bot Geneve 2nd Ser. VIII. 7,8,9: 216-7. 1916.
La vegetation de Paraguay
Sans en avoir l’extreme vigueur, le T. decomposita Baker, grimpe, semble-t-il, de la meme maniere, ce qui explique sa station si elevee; il en est de meme du T. streptocarpa Baker. ce sont trois especes affines. Mais, chez cette derniere, nous avons constate la presence de celle espece que nous avons vues, etaient moins nettement recourbees en crochets. On la voit sur les hauts arbres, comme un nid dans le feuillage (par exemple a Luque sur les Lapacho. Balansa n. 645). Souvent meme, elle developpe des racines crampons a la base de sa grosse rosette; parfois, comme dans la var. pungens nob. (Chodat et Vischer . n. 401, Salado, Ypacarai) les feuilles n’arrivent pas a se recourber en crochet. On comprend des lors l’enorme difference qui separe le T. duratii du T. streptocarpa Baker, (Balansa n. 645), cette derniere ayant un pouvoir d’enracinement, ce que correlativement amene a la suppression de la tige et meme a supprimer l’enroulement foliaire. Ainsi, dans les forets le long du lac Ypacarai, dans la direction du Rio-Salado.

translation by Butcher
Without having the extreme vigor of T. decomposita Baker, climbs, it seems in the same manner, which explains its elevated position; it is the same as T. streptocarpa Baker, these three species are related. But, with this last one, we have noted the presence in one species that we saw, with less distinctly hooked leaves. We saw in the high trees, like a leafy nest (for example at Luque near Lapacho. Balansa n. 645). Often the same plant develops some clinging roots at the base of the rosette; sometimes, as in the var. pungens nob. (Chodat and Vischer. n. 401, Salado, Ypacarai) the leaves don't have a hooked bend. One understands at this time the enormous difference that separates T. duratii from T. streptocarpa Baker (Balansa n. 645), this last one having the power of rooting, that comes correspondingly from the suppression of the stem and even suppresses the leaf coil. That is how we found them in the forests along the Ypacarai lake, in the direction of Rio Salado.