Billbergia
Billbergia amoena
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Bromeliaceae
Subfamily: Bromelioideae
Genus: Billbergia
Thunb.
Type species
Billbergia amoena
Synonyms[1]
  • Anacyclia Hoffmanns.
  • Eucallias Raf.
  • Jonghea Lem.
  • Cremobotrys Beer
  • Helicodea Lem.
  • Pseudaechmea L.B.Sm. & Read

Billbergia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae.

Description

The Billbergia species are rosette-forming, evergreen perennials, usually epiphytic, occasionally terrestrial or lithotypic in habit.[2] They are mostly medium-sized species with small funnel diameters. Most species are epiphytes, some species grow on plants, on rocks, as well as directly on the ground. Water collects in the leaf funnels. In many funnels there are small biotopes with several species of animals and algae and aquatic plants. The rough leaves are always reinforced on the edge (as with all genera of the Bromelioideae), with a spiked tip. In some species and varieties, the leaves are beautifully colored. In many species, suction scales are everywhere on the leaves, often also on the inflorescence.[3]

They often bloom with brilliantly colored flowers with long-lasting inflorescence (inflorescences). The inflorescence often hang with terminal scape, erect or decurved. Strikingly colored bracts (bracts) often sit on the inflorescence; the color red dominates (usually with a blue component).

Flowers bisexual, sessile or conspicuously pedicellate; sepals free; petals free, threefold with a double perianth, with basal appendages, often spirally recurved at anthesis; stamens free or adnate to the petals, the anthers without appendages; inferior ovary. There are three sepals present. The three petals often have different shades of blue, there are also yellow, green and white. Birds are the pollinators of the blue-flowered species. An important characteristic that distinguishes them from other genera is that their petals curl up when they wither. The individual flowers only bloom for a few hours and can be pollinated for much less time. Most species have small scales (Ligulea) at the base of the petals. The six stamens and the style often protrude far from the flower. A large part of the species blooms at night. The flower formula is: bis

The fruits are multi-seeded berries, often heavily colored when ripe; red to blue dominate here. The fruits are eaten by animals (mainly by birds, less often by bats and monkeys). The seeds are excreted undigested and end up on branches with the feces.

Taxonomy

The Swedish botanist Carl Peter Thunberg (1743–1828) established the genus Billbergia in Plantarum Brasiliensium ..., 3, 1821 p. 30 with the type species being Billbergia speciosa.[4] The genus, named for the Swedish botanist, zoologist, and anatomist Gustaf Johan Billberg (1772–1844), is divided into two subgenera: Billbergia and Helicodea. Species in subgenus Helicodea are distinguishable by the tightly recurved 'clock spring' flower petals, unlike other billbergias where the petals are flared.

Species

SubgenusImageScientific nameDistribution
Subgenus Helicodea (Lemaire) Baker Billbergia acreana H. LutherBrazil (Acre)
Billbergia alfonsi-joannis Reitzfrom Espírito Santo to Santa Catarina
Billbergia brasiliensis L.B.Sm.Rio de Janeiro
Billbergia brachysiphon L.B.Sm.Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador
Billbergia cardenasii L.B.Sm.Bolivia
Billbergia cylindrostachya MezRio de Janeiro
Billbergia dasilvae LemeRondônia
Billbergia decora Poepp. & Endl.Peru, Bolivia, Brazil
Billbergia eloiseae L.B.Sm. & ReadColombia
Billbergia formosa UlePeru
Billbergia incarnata (Ruiz & Pavón) Schultes f.Peru
Billbergia issingiana T.Krömer & E.GrossBolivia
Billbergia jandebrabanderi R.Vásquez & IbischBolivia
Billbergia macrolepis L.B.Sm.Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana
Billbergia magnifica MezBrazil, Paraguay
Billbergia meyeri MezBrazil, Bolivia
Billbergia microlepis L.B.Sm.Bolivia
Billbergia oxysepala MezAcre, Ecuador
Billbergia pallidiflora LiebmannMexico and Central America from Sinaloa to Nicaragua
Billbergia porteana Brongn. ex BeerBrazil, Paraguay
Billbergia robert-readii E.Gross & RauhPeru
Billbergia rosea BeerTrinidad, Venezuela
Billbergia rubicunda MezSuriname
Billbergia rupestris L.B.Sm.Colombia, Acre
Billbergia stenopetala HarmsEcuador, Peru
Billbergia tessmannii HarmsPeru
Billbergia violacea BeerBrazil, Colombia, Guianas
Billbergia zebrina (Herb.) Lindl.Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay
Subgenus Billbergia Billbergia ambigua (L.B.Sm. & Read) Betancur & N.R.Salinas, syn. Pseudaechmea ambiguaAntioquia
Billbergia amoena (G.Lodd.) Lindl.Brazil
Billbergia bradeana L.B.Sm.Espírito Santo
Billbergia buchholtzii MezBrazil, but probably extinct
Billbergia castelensis E.PereiraEspírito Santo
Billbergia chlorantha L.B.Sm.Espírito Santo
Billbergia × claudioi Leme - Brazil
Billbergia distachya (Vell.) Mezsouthern Brazil
Billbergia domingosmartinsis E.GrossEspírito Santo
Billbergia elegans Martius ex Schultes f.Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais
Billbergia euphemiae E.Morrensoutheastern Brazil
Billbergia horrida Regelsoutheastern Brazil
Billbergia iridifolia (Nees & Mart.) Lindl.southeastern Brazil
Billbergia kautskyana E.PereiraEspírito Santo
Billbergia laxiflora L.B.Sm.Espírito Santo
Billbergia leptopoda L.B.Sm.Bahia, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais
Billbergia lietzei E.MorrenEspírito Santo
Billbergia lymanii E.Pereira & Lemesoutheastern Brazil
Billbergia macracantha E.PereiraRio de Janeiro
Billbergia macrocalyx HookerBahia, Minas Gerais
Billbergia manarae Steyerm.Venezuela
Billbergia minarum L.B.Sm.Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais
Billbergia morelii Brongn.eastern Brazil
Billbergia nana E.PereiraBahia, Espírito Santo
Billbergia nutans H.Wendland ex RegelBrazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay
Billbergia pohliana MezMinas Gerais
Billbergia pyramidalis (Sims) Lindl.Brazil, Venezuela, French Guiana, Lesser Antilles, Cuba; naturalized in Mauritius
Billbergia reichardtii WawraEspírito Santo, Minas Gerais
Billbergia sanderiana E.Morrensoutheastern Brazil
Billbergia saundersii W.Bulleastern Brazil
Billbergia seidelii L.B.Sm. & ReitzEspírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro
Billbergia speciosa Thunb.southeastern Brazil
Billbergia tweedieana Bakersoutheastern Brazil
Billbergia viridiflora H.WendlandBelize, Guatemala, Tabasco
Billbergia vittata Brongn.eastern Brazil

Distribution

They are native to forest and scrub, up to an altitude of 1,700 m (5,577 ft), in southern Mexico, the West Indies, Central America and South America, with many species endemic to Brazil.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 978-1405332965.
  3. "Name - !Billbergia Thunb". Tropicos. 2022-04-09. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  4. "Encyclopaedia of Bromeliads". Bromelia Contact Groep. Retrieved 2022-04-10.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bromeliaceae". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 632.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.