Monographs Details:
Authority:
Acevedo-RodrÃguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
Acevedo-RodrÃguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
Family:
Bromeliaceae
Bromeliaceae
Description:
Genus Description - Terrestrial or epiphytic herb; stems short (to 10 cm long), erect or decumbent, clothed by the leaf bases. Leaves linear, 30-75 x 2.2-6 cm, coriaceous, short-acuminate, acuminate and spine tipped at apex, the margins with brownish, curved, spinelike teeth, 1-2 mm long. Scapes to 1 m tall, slender; scape bracts oblong, lanceolate or subulate, spine-tipped, 2.5-6 cm long, decreasing in size toward the apex of the scape; inflorescences several ascendingcurved spikes, distichous, 10-15 cm long; floral bracts subulate, 4-7 mm long, spine-tipped. Flowers sessile, distant to approximate; hypanthium green, 8-9 mm long; sepals 5-6 mm long, connate at base, the apex asymmetrical with a spine tip in subapical position; petals whitish, 8-9 mm long, acute; stamens of the second series, with shorter filament, adnate to the petals. Berry asymmetrically ovoid, purplish red, 8-10 mm long.
Distribution and Ecology - Occasional in moist forests. Bordeaux (A615, A5096), Center Line Road (A4035). Also on St. Thomas; Central America, West Indies, and South America.
Genus Description - Terrestrial or epiphytic herb; stems short (to 10 cm long), erect or decumbent, clothed by the leaf bases. Leaves linear, 30-75 x 2.2-6 cm, coriaceous, short-acuminate, acuminate and spine tipped at apex, the margins with brownish, curved, spinelike teeth, 1-2 mm long. Scapes to 1 m tall, slender; scape bracts oblong, lanceolate or subulate, spine-tipped, 2.5-6 cm long, decreasing in size toward the apex of the scape; inflorescences several ascendingcurved spikes, distichous, 10-15 cm long; floral bracts subulate, 4-7 mm long, spine-tipped. Flowers sessile, distant to approximate; hypanthium green, 8-9 mm long; sepals 5-6 mm long, connate at base, the apex asymmetrical with a spine tip in subapical position; petals whitish, 8-9 mm long, acute; stamens of the second series, with shorter filament, adnate to the petals. Berry asymmetrically ovoid, purplish red, 8-10 mm long.
Distribution and Ecology - Occasional in moist forests. Bordeaux (A615, A5096), Center Line Road (A4035). Also on St. Thomas; Central America, West Indies, and South America.