Tillandsia guelzii Photo by: Gennaro Re
Origin and Habitat: Tillandsia guelziiSN|35354]]SN|35354]] is endemic to Jujuy Province of northern Argentina.
Synonyms:
Description: 1) Tillandsia guelzii is a remarkably pretty and deliciously stemless, or short stemmed, epiphyte bromeliad growing in large clumps. It forms dense rosettes up to 20 cm high, 25 cm wide with numerous leaves and reaches a height of 30-35 cm at flowering.
Leaves: Numerous in a dense rosette. Leaf sheath up to 2.5 cm long and 2cm wide,lighter than the blade. Bade 2-17 cm long and 2-2.5 cm wide at base, long tappering, rolled inwards, outside weakly keeled, both sides silver-white.
Inflorescence: Scape upright or slightly bent over, to 15 cm long, 5 mm wide, as long or shorter than the leaf rosette, covered by the stem bracts, the ones at base leaflike, the upper ones erect acuminate not rounded with pink sheath and terminated by a bipinnate spike. The spike covered by bracts. The primary bracts are short tipped, 2.5 cm long, carmine-red, the bottom greenish. The sides spikes 1-2, sessile or nearly so, 2-3 (6) flowered, greatly reduced often to a single flower, the central spike is up to 8.5 cm long, 1.5 cm wide, lanceolate, up to 15 flowered. Rhachis strongly angular-complanate and visible.
Flowers: Subsessile, beginning dense, later lax upright, green, flat edged, naked, flexuous rhachis is visible. Flower bract distichous, long-elliptic, ca 15 mm long, blunt to acuminate, not keeled, the bottom greenish, scarcely downy at the tip, a little bit shorter than the sepals, with membranous edges. Sepals pale red, membranous, up to 15 mm long, 6 mm wide glabrous. Petals blade spreading not erect, linguiform, light violet to white, 15-20 mm long, 3 mm wide. Stamens and style included. Filament in the upper third strongly pleated. Style with white lobes a little longer than the anthers. Ovary green.
Remarks: There is some confusion as to the correct status of this species. Tillandsia guelziiSN|35354]]SN|35354]] is close and very similar to Tillandsia pucaraensis, but there is not any formal judgements regarding synonymy.
Bibliography: Major referemces and further lectures
1) Tillandsia guelzii: Bromeliads in Australia. Web: http://www.bromeliad.org.au/pictures/Tillandsia/guelzii.htm
2) Tillandsia guelzii: W. Rauh , Tropische und subtropische Pflanzenwelt 65:55-58. 1988
3) Wikipedia contributors. "Tillandsia guelzii." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 20 Mar. 2018. Web. 8 Sep. 2018.
