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November 2009 

BSSF Officers 2009 

Webpage: 

http://www.bssf-miami.org/ 

President Robert Meyer 

VP: Pepe Donayre 

Treasurer: Alan Herndon 

Secretary: Barbara Partagas 

_________________ 

DIRECTORS 

Past Pres.: Sandy Roth 

Directors: 

Lori Weyrick ‘09 

Peter Kouchalakos ‘09 

Judy Pagliarulo ‘09-‘10 

Ofelia Sorzano ‘09-‘10 

Editor 

Robert C Meyer 

Door Prize: Alan Herndon 

Education: Nat DeLeon 

Hospitality: Elaine Mills 

Library: Ofelia Sorzano 

Membership: Moyna Prince 

Member Plant Sales: Antonio 

Arbelaez 

Raffle: Peter & Clara 

Kouchalakos 

Refreshments: Patty Gonzalez 

What Who 

Sales 

Table 

Antonio Arbelaez 

NOVEMBER 3, 2009, 7:30 PM 

SPEAKER: Ron Cave program for next meeting will 

be "An Update to the Biological Control of the 

Mexican Bromeliad Weevil and other Invasive 

Insects" 

FOOD: It will be there 

RONALD D. Cave, Ph.D. 

As an assistant professor of Entomology in the Department of 

Entomology and Nematology at the University of Florida’s 

Indian River Research and 

Education Center, Ron Cave, 

according the school’s web page, 

“He teaches two classes: 

Principles of Entomology, and 

Fundamentals of Pest 

Management. Dr. Cave's research 

focuses on the biological control 

of invasive arthropods, 

particularly the cycad aulacaspis scale and the Mexican 

bromeliad weevil. Dr. Cave's international experience includes 

work in Honduras, Paraguay, and El Salvador.” His 

publications are extensive, and more about Dr. Cave can be 

found at http://www.irrec.ifas.ufl.edu/rcave.php. 

INSIDE THIS EDITION: 

In Case You Missed It ..................... 2 

Alcanterea ............................ 2-3 

What’s In Bloom ....................... 3-4 

Clone Preservation...................... 4-5 

President’s Message .................... 5-6 

Start Preparing for Winter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7

In Case You Missed It 

by Robert Meyer 

“It” can mean many things. Since the event 

indoors was the auction, I will defer and state 

that it was a success and nit much more. 

The other “it” was the field trip to Broward 

County. Tim & Colleen Hendrix w/ Bud 

Hendrix at 21 Holly Lane, Plantation, FL 

33317 Wow, what a garden. Plants were there 

for sale and my favorite – beer at 10:00AM. 

Second, Bill & Maureen Frazel, 12500 Lake 

th 

Road a/k/a/ SW 12 Street, Davie, FL 33325. 

A collection of plants as old as 20 years – and 

many species. Lastly, Jorge Rodriguez & 

Josefa Leon (Sunshine Bromeliads), 14601 

Old Sheridan Street, Southwest Ranches, FL 

33330 where plants again were for sale, and 

topped off with free lunch, drinks and cake for 

birthday girl, Josefa. And, some of the lucky 

ones got to see Josefa’s shelter for this year’s 

plant show. 

All in all, it was a great event which appeared 

for doom at the morning’s sunrise as rain 

poured heavily in Miami-Dade, but apparently 

decided to forego the same for Broward. 

Thanks to the hosts and this will probably be 

something done again in the not-too-distant 

future. 

NAT DELEON TO SPEAK 

Save the date: November 18, 2009 at 7 

PM. 

Place: Library in Pinecrest – next to 

Pinecrest Gardens fka Parrot Jungle. 

11000 Red Road 

ALCANTAREA - VARIEGATED PLANTS 

ARE COMING 

by Alan Herndon 

Those of you who attended Chester Skotak’s 

keynote talk at the Bromeliad Extravaganza 

sponsored by the Bromeliad Society of 

Broward County in 2007 will remember the 

many pictures of gorgeous variegated 

BromeliAdvisory 

Page 2 

Alcantarea plants at his nursery in Costa Rica. 

Brazilians, of course, have had numbers of 

variegated Alcantarea species for many years. 

Now it turns out that the Australians have also 

been building up stocks of variegated plants. 

The wonder is that so very few of the variegated 

plants have made their way into our markets. 

You can expect this to change over the next few 

years. 

It turns out that variegation crops up in 

Alcantarea with some frequency in seedlings, 

and both the Brazilians and Australians tend to 

grow many of their Alcantarea crops from seed. 

Of course, the occurrence of variegation is still 

quite rare, and particularly attractive, stable 

variegations are very rare. 

An article by Bruce Dunston in the July/Aug 

2009 issue of Bromeliaceae, the publication of 

the Bromeliad Society of South Queensland, 

provides all of the information I have on these 

plants in Australia. It also provides some 

spectacular pictures of variegated Alcantarea 

species found in Brazil. 

In Australia, many more seedlings are raised 

every year than the market can absorb just to 

search for more variegated varieties. The 

challenge is to sort out 

desirable seedlings at 

the smallest possible 

size. All seedlings 

showing any sign of 

variegation have to be 

saved until it becomes 

evident that the 

variegation will not 

produce a useable 

plant. It is certain that 

Photo by Shirley 

Grills-Konefal as shown 

on FCBS web site 

thousands of seedlings 

will have to be 

discarded for every 

variegated seedling 

found, but the lure of 

discovering a unique varigated variety is strong 

enough for me to devote space to growing 

batches of Alcantarea seed in the future. 

When an especially beautiful variegated 

Alcantarea is obtained, there is no quick way to 

increase the numbers. In general, tissue culture 

will not produce variegated clones from a 

variegated plant, nor will seedlings from a 

variegated plant come out variegated. The

method Bruce Dunston uses most is 

encouraging the production of hair pups at the 

base of the stem These hair pups sometimes 

have the same variegation as the parent plant. 

Variegated pups are removed as soon as they 

reach a decent size and grown out (pups not 

showing signs of variegation are removed and 

discarded as soon as they can be identified). 

The potential rate of increase is determined by 

the proportion of the hair pups that have 

useable variegation. 

Of course, not all Alcantarea species produce 

hair pups to the same degree as Alcantarea 

imperialis. Plants like this can be grown to a 

reasonable size (say 8" pot size), then the 

apical meristem is killed (‘spiked’) to 

encourage the growth of pups. If hair pups are 

produced, they are treated as above. If only 

central pups are produced, they are allowed to 

grow until the mother plant shows signs of 

falling apart. Central pups are more likely 

than hair pups to develop variegation 

matching the parent, but only a few pups can 

be produced from each parent by this method. 

Plants that lose variegation as they grow can 

be similarly spiked in hopes of producing pups 

that maintain variegation better. 

Brazilians have long had variegated 

Alcantarea in their own gardens, but they 

have not been anxious to market them to the 

outside world. The two variegated cultivars of 

Alcantarea imperialis listed in the Bromeliad 

Cultivar Registry as of 2007(‘Gladys’ and 

‘Helenice’) come from the Brazilian nursery 

Bromelario Imperialis. ‘Helenice’ was 

registered in 2001. Karl Green has seen many 

variegated plants during his travels to Brazil, 

but the only one he has been able to bring 

back is an albomarginate (actually 

flavomarginate since the production of 

chloroplasts is reduced but not eliminated in 

bands along the leaf margins) form of 

Alcantarea extensa. I have seen no evidence 

of hair pup production from his plants over the 

past 2 years, even though other clones of 

Alcantarea extensa seem to readily form hair 

pups. Chester Skotak got some of his 

variegated Alcantarea from the Brazilians, 

although I am sure he has added other forms 

through his own breeding efforts. 

It would be surprising if the Hawaiians do not 

have a stock of variegated Alcantarea 


Page 3 

imperialis under development also. David Fels 

and David Shiigi, at minimum, have been 

growing Alcantarea in quantity from seed for 

many years (and have produced many unique 

color forms to prove it), although I have not yet 

heard of them having variegated plants. 

With all of the variegated Alcantarea production 

currently known, it is clear that the time is ripe 

for exploitation of the American market. It also 

seems clear that most of the current clones are 

not very stable with regard to variegation. This 

is undoubtedly why production has been so slow 

over the past several years. Still, I would expect 

variegated plants to starting entering the country 

at any time. You will undoubtedly pay a heavy 

price for bragging rights as one of the early 

owners. A variegated Alcantarea in your 

garden, after all, would truly be something to 

brag about. And it may take a while for the 

price to drop to a point where I could afford a 

plant. Yet, I eagerly anticipate the day when 

these plants finally make their way into our 

collections, and I can, at least, dream of owning 

one. 

What’s in Bloom - October 2009 


The slowdown in blooming continues, although 

there are still several new species blooming this 

month. The record for Aechmea blanchetiana 

as newly blooming is clearly false. I 

undoubtedly failed to note the continued 

blooming of this plant since it last appeared in 

the list. On the other hand, it appears that 

Neoregelia species (especially in subgenus 

Neoregelia) are closing down for winter. 

Aechmea (angustifolia, blanchetiana, chantinii, 

corymbosa, contracta, cucullata, 

echinatus, farinosa conglomerata, 

farinosa discolor, kuntzeana, Little 

Harv, mulfordii (red leaf form), 

nudicaulis, phanerophlebia, 

tillandsioides, Victoria) 

Alcantarea (imperialis, odorata) 

Billbergia pyramidalis 

Bromelia humilis 

Canistropsis billbergioides 

Catopsis (compacta (=berteroana), nutans 

(FL)) 

Cryptanthus warren-loosei 

Edmundoa lindenii 

Hechtia rosea

Hohenbergia (distans, edmundoi) 

Neoregelia (compacta, cruenta, Fireball, 

myrmecophila, pendula brevifolia, 

rosea, Sheba,Ultima) 

Nidularium (angustibracteatum, apiculatum, 

ferrugineum, krisgreenii) 

Orthophytum (compactum, disjuncta, duartei, 

grossiorum, harleyi, hatschbachii, 

lymaniana, magalhaesii) 

Pitcairnia (albiflos, armata, echinata 

vallensis, imbricata) 

Tillandsia (aeranthos, chiapensis, extensa, 

jalisco-monticola, lindenii) 

Vriesea (eltoniana, ensiformis, gradata, 

triligulata) 

Clone preservation project update - 

Oct 2009 


Terrie Bert pointed out that my treatment of 

the relationship between Aechmea fasciata 

and Aechmea dealbata was so terse that it 

could easily be misinterpreted. I fell into the 

error of writing in my own internal shorthand 

(one of the disadvantages of working without 

an editor), and failed to catch it. An expanded 

explanation follows. 

In almost all natural plant species, there is a 

range of genetic variation in all important 

characters. This means plant shape, leaf shape 

and markings, inflorescence size and 

branching, flower size and color all vary 

(within limits). We don’t see the full range of 

variation when dealing 

with cultivated plants. 

In fact, we may only 

have a single clone of 

Aechmea dealbata in 

our collections 

(although I am trusting 

some of you will yet 

prove me wrong), so we 

have no genetic 

variation to examine. 

Aechmea dealbata. Photo 

by Derek Butcher courtesy 

of FCBS. 

When we do have 

several wild-collected 

clones in cultivation (as 

in Aechmea fasciata), 

we have a better (though still incomplete) feel 

for the natural variation within the species. 

When I said Aechmea dealbata is very similar 

to Aechmea fasciata, I was thinking about 

comparing Aechmea dealbata to the range of 


Page 4 

Aechmea fasciata clones in my own collection. 

Aechmea dealbata looks like the smaller plants 

of Aechmea fasciata in terms of size, leaf shape, 

inflorescence shape and inflorescence structure. 

This does not, nor was it intended to, imply that 

Aechmea dealbata is taxonomically identical to 

Aechmea fasciata. As mentioned, the bracts of 

the inflorescence are darker and duller in 

Aechmea dealbata.. Also, the petals are different 

in color from those found in Aechmea fasciata. 

These are potentially significant characters in 

the taxonomic sense (i.e. they can be used to 

separate two taxonomically distinct plants). 

Indeed, Aechmea dealbata is currently treated as 

a distinct species 

Please let me know whenever you find a passage 

in these updates confusing or incomprehensible. 

There is probably a rational explanation for 

what I said even if I was unable to articulate it 

correctly. 

I also want to take the opportunity to expand on 

something I said during the discussion of 

Aechmea chantinii cultivars. In describing the 

banding, I said the white bands were formed by 

trichomes while the dark bands were areas 

without trichomes. If you are examining the 

leaf through a hand lens, this would be an 

adequate explanation. At higher magnification, 

it is clear that trichomes are more-or-less evenly 

spread over the leaf surface. In the white bands, 

there is a margin of cells on the trichome that 

stand out from the leaf surface. 

These cells scatter light very effectively to give 

the white appearance. In 

the dark bands, the cells 

of the trichome are 

pressed against the leaf 

surface and do not modify 

the color of the surface at 

all. The trichomes with 

the upright margins may 

be physically different 

from the trichomes with 

spreading margins (say, 

Till. Hildae Photo by 

Derek Butcher. Courtesy 

of FCBS 

by having an extra ring of 

cells), but I do not have 

the equipment to 

determine this. In any 

case, it is an interesting question why the two 

types of trichomes tend to occur in groups rather 

than being scattered randomly. I would also like 

to point out that similar banding (though never

so evenly distributed) is seen in several other 

bromeliad species. 

Some forms of Aechmea fasciata and 

Aechmea nudicaulis come immediately to 

mind. Tillandsia hildae also has quite strong 

banding. I haven’t looked at these plants 

carefully to see whether the banding has the 

same origin. The case of Tillandsia hildae 

will be especially interesting because the 

silver-leaved Tillandsia species in general 

have trichomes that become fully saturated 

when given water and cease scattering light. 

You can see the dramatic difference in the leaf 

color of these plants when you water, and you 

can watch the silver return to the leaf as the 

surface dries out. With Aechmea chantinii, 

and the other Aechmea species, the color 

difference between wet and dry leaf surfaces 

is much less pronounced. This suggests the 

upturned margins on the trichomes (of 

Aechmea chantinii, at least) never become 

saturated. 

Nat DeLeon provided more information on the 

Aechmea 

chantinii 

cultivar ‘Dark 

DeLeon’. It 

has stiff, 

more-or-less 

erect leaves 

with a dark 

ground color 

Nat DeLeon One Year Ago 

and uneven 

banding. In 

other words, 

it will be similar to Aechmea chantinii ‘Pink 

Goddess’ with a dark colored leaf. At this 

point, I do not know what the inflorescence will 

look like. 

Wally Berg was, aside from being a great 

collector and grower of bromeliads, an 

inveterate list maker. He kept track of several 

numbered series of collections. The most 

important series was the BAB series of plants 

from Brazil. Many of these were plants 

collected by Wally Berg and John Anderson in 

their travels. Some were plants they found in 

the gardens of important Brazilian collectors. 

Relatively detailed information is available on 

the collection localities of all plants. I have 

heard of some 250 plants in this series. 


Page 5 

Wally Berg’s collection was dispersed through an 

auction held after his death and many of the 

plants went overseas. However, he shared plants 

with many other collectors before his death. John 

Anderson also had a (presumably) complete set of 

the BAB plants that he, likewise, shared with 

others. The question is whether we can still 

identify and preserve all of the plants in this 

series. 

If you have plants in your collection with BAB 

numbers, please let us know. (Take care to note 

that there is also an EAB series of plants collected 

in Ecuador. Right now I would like to 

concentrate on BAB numbers.) You can use the 

format introduced last month. Two points to 

remember when producing your list: the plants 

were distributed under names that were 

sometimes provisional _ so more than one name 

might be associated with some plants in the series. 

In addition, the simple numbering system used is 

prone to errors in transmission. For instance, 

BAB 191 could easily be interpreted as BAB 194 

if a stray mark showed up on the tag, or the 

opposite could occur just as easily. It should be 

possible to correct many of these errors and 

provide a centralized list of names for each plant 

in the series. 

I have many plants from the BAB series in my 

own collection, and will have them in spreadsheet 

format by next month. In the meantime, if any of 

you has access to the original listing for the BAB 

series (or any other Wally Berg series), please 

share it with us. I would provide a solid baseline 

for the database. 

Finally, please remember to let me know if there 

are other people who might be interested in 

receiving these updates. 

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 

by Robert Meyer 

Again, I thank all of the Broward brothers who 

entertained us the weekend of October 24, 2009. 

The attendance by our people was significant, 

especially in light of the problems created by 

mother nature who thunder and lightening hit 

Miami-Dade quite squarely, but apparently she 

was forgiving this time to Broward where the 

weather was dry and muggy (a Florida term). 

The hints and clues that one can obtain by 

witnessing masters at other locations can be

immeasurable. And with flattery’s best form 

to follow, I have already begun tying 

innumerable tillandsia to palms in my yard in 

honor of Josefa – although she may speak 

harshly to me as I use plastic cord instead of 

nylons. 

We can only hope for more ventures in the 

future where the organization’s membership 

only greatens and friendships broaden. These 

events adhere to the specific By Laws’ request 

for entertainment and broadening of education 

to the community about the plants. 

If anyone has an idea for a site of a future 

caravan, feel free to deliver such message to 

me or any of the board members. 

JOIN the BSSF: 

Friends or Family contact Moyna Prince 

at 305-251-5289 

Download application sheet at: 

http://www.bssf-miami.org/membership. 

htm 

Start Preparing for Winter 


Days are beginning to grow noticeably shorter. 

The sun is lower in the sky. Temperatures are 

beginning to fall (although this may not be 

especially evident to most readers given that 

daily high temperatures have rebounded into 

the upper 80's as these words are written). We 

are truly seeing the end of summer, albeit 

more in promise than reality. 

It is important to reduce the amount of 

fertilizer you feed your plants over the 

next few months 

Bromeliads in your garden are still holding 

memories of summer, and plants that bloomed 

earlier in the year are displaying these 

memories in the rapid growth of offsets. Keep 

careful watch on the offsets. As the sun goes 

lower in the sky, your offsets may find 

themselves in too much shade and become 

‘leggy’ (with narrow and thin leaves that can’t 

hold themselves up the way a proper 

bromeliad leaf should). You may have to 

move the parent plant into a location with 

more light or remove some shade from the 

vicinity of the parent plant. 


Page 6 

It is important to reduce the amount of fertilizer 

you feed your plants over the next few months. 

With the reduced sunlight and cooler 

temperatures on the way (eventually), your 

plants will naturally be growing more slowly 

and will need less fertilizer. If you continue with 

your regular fertilizer schedule, your plants will 

respond in the same way as if you doubled the 

dose of fertilizer, or moved them into deep 

shade, during the summer months. The newer 

leaves will come up green and leggy. In 

addition to ruining the proper leaf proportions 

you are trying to achieve for the show table, this 

puts your plants at greater risk of damage when 

the inevitable ‘cold’ spells appear. Perversely, 

our coldest days and nights tend to come after a 

period of unseasonably warm weather. 

Overfertilized plants will be growing as fast as 

possible during those warm periods, so the 

leaves will be thin and susceptible to cool, dry 

winds when a cold front moves through. The 

temperature does not have to fall to freezing. 

The dry winds themselves are sufficient to 

dessicate and kill thin leaves. 

Within a month, we can expect nighttime 

temperatures to fall low enough that root growth 

is slowed and root initiation is halted entirely. 

Once that happens (and until temperatures 

rebound in late spring), it is useless to remove 

and plant offsets from most bromeliads before 

they produce roots unless you can provide 

artificial heat to the root zone.. During summer, 

you often have to remove offsets before roots 

are formed just to keep the offset from 

overwhelming the mother plant, but, during 

winter, harvested offsets without roots tend to 

sit listlessly in their pots. They rarely produce 

roots before the return of spring, and they don’t 

start to grow until roots are formed. 

Within a month, we can expect nighttime 

temperatures to fall low enough that root 

growth is slowed and root initiation is 

halted entirely. 

When you do find an offset with visible roots, it 

is usually safe to remove and repot. Already 

formed roots seem to grow adequately during 

our winters, and these offsets will continue to 

grow (slowly) throughout our normal cold 

weather. If you are unlucky enough to pot up a 

offset just before a really cold spell (this will, of

course, always occur right after you have 

taken an extremely valuable offset), it might 

be wise to move the pot indoors for a day or 

so. Once the nighttime temperature returns to 

the seasonal average, put the plant back 

outside. 

Beyond these generalities, you need to learn 

what plants in your collection need most 

protection from cold Surprisingly, Vriesea 

(including Alcantarea) and Nidularium 

species and hybrids are among the more cold 

hardy bromeliads. Also particularly tolerant 

are species in the Ortgiesia subgenus of 

Aechmea (Ae. gamosepla, Ae. comata, etc.) 

and many species of Billbergia. Unless we 

are expected to have temperatures in the 20's, 

these plants don’t need particular protection. 

For more information, you should consult a 

detailed list of cold hardy bromeliads 

published by Tom Wolfe and Eileen Kahl in 

the Feb 2007 issue of the Florida Council of 

Bromeliad Societies quarterly publication. 

“. . . consult a detailed list of cold hardy 

bromeliads published by Tom Wolfe 

and Eileen Kahl in the Feb 2007 issue of 

the Florida Council of Bromeliad 

Societies quarterly publication” 

On the other end of the spectrum, Aechmea 

fulgens and its relatives are famous for 

showing cold damage when temperatures dip 

into the 40's. Cryptanthus species and hybrids 

are also very susceptible to cool temperatures. 

Again, a freeze is not necessary _ in a single 

night, cool dry winds in the 40's are perfectly 

capable of turning a plant ready for the show 

table into something that looks like it just 

came off the compost pile. Plants in this group 

greatly benefit from being grown next to your 

house throughout the winter. Heat from the 

house walls helps keep the air temperature 

slightly higher, and the house often provides 

protection against the cold winds. In a perfect 

world, you would be able to place sensitive 

plants against the south end of the house for 

winter. If you have a courtyard in your house, 

it is even better. In the imperfect world, you 

can still gain some benefit from having your 

plants next to the house in other exposures. 

Most bromeliads fall between these extremes. 

They show visible damage when frost forms 

on the leaves (this can occur with 

temperatures a few degrees above freezing). 

You can protect these plants from frosts and 


Page 7 

light freezes by covering them with sheets of 

lightweight material overnight. The sheets will 

slow the rate of heat loss by radiation from the 

plant and its immediate surroundings, keeping 

the air temperature higher than it would 

otherwise be. If you use plastic sheets for this 

purpose, remember to remove them promptly in 

the morning or risk losing your plants to heat 

damage if the sun shines directly on the covered 

plant for any length of time. Usually, 

bromeliads growing under tree canopies (shade 

trees, not palms) do not need extra covering. 

The leaves in the tree canopy act effectively like 

a blanket. 

“You can protect these plants from 

frosts and light freezes by covering them 

with sheets of lightweight material 

overnight. ” 

Plants grown for the show next spring should be 

given a little extra care. Grow them near the 

house, even if they are not particularly sensitive 

to cold. If a really cold spell is predicted, take 

the time to move the plants into a completely 

sheltered location – even into your living room. 

Then, do not keep the plants inside any longer 

than necessary. As soon as the temperatures 

return to seasonal normals, place the plants back 

in their original locations outside. 

“Plants grown for the show next spring 

should be given a little extra care. Grow 

them near the house, even if they are not 

particularly sensitive to cold.” 

Winter, aside from a few days when it really 

seems cold (although any northerner will laugh 

in your face if they hear you say so), is the nicest 

season for humans in southern Florida. With a 

little attention to their changing needs, you can 

also make it a fine season for your plants. 

Coming Events 

NOVEMBER 13TH - 15TH, 2009 

FCBS Bromeliad Extravaganza 

Hosted by the Bromeliad Society of Central 

Florida 

Renaissance Orlando Hotel Airport 

5445 Forbes Place, Orlando 

NOTE: If you go online and order as a 

Florida resident rates are lessened and 

parking is free. Handle this disparate charge 

accordingly.

Photo from http://www.extremescience.com ... - Bssf-miami.org

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