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Family:

Bromeliaceae (Magnoliophyta)

Primary Citation:

Sp. Pl. 1: 285. 1753

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Common Names:

pinguin, Piñuela timbiriche, pinguin, maya

Description:

Author : Juan Francisco Morales, Xavier Cornejo & Reinaldo Aguilar.

Description: Terrestrial herbs, forming funnelform rosettes, growing in dense clumps, stoloniferous. Blades strap-like, 80-220 x 2.5-7 cm, the inner ones turning bright red at flowering time, the margins armed with stout teeth, the apex attenuate. Scapes erect, stout, white farinose; scape bracts foliaceous. Inflorescences shorter than leaves, bearing up to 12 flowers; floral bracts linear-subulate, ca. 30 mm long, much shorter than to about equaling ovary. Flowers polystichously arranged, up to 6 cm long, distinctly pedicellate; sepals erect, very narrowly triangular subulate, 15-30 mm long, pale; petals oblong, ca. 30 x 5-6 mm, rose with white base and margins, the apex densely white farinose. Fruits ovoid, ca. 35 x 25 mm, yellow at maturity, the pulp with a pineapple flavour.

Common names: Piñuela, piro (Morales, 2003).

Distribution: Mexico to northern South America and the West Indies from sea level to 780 m (Smith & Down, 1979).

Ecology: In dry and moist forests (Morales, 2003).

Phenology: This species has been observed with flowers in May and Jun (Morales, 2003).

Pollination: The flowers are pollinated by hummingbirds, and also visited by bees and ants (Haber et al., 1981; Cornejo, pers. obs. 1994).

Dispersal: The fruits are reported to be eaten by birds (Poulin et al., 1994). In Veracruz, Mexico, the seeds and seedlings are predated by the Red Land Crab Gecarcinus lateralis Frem. (García-Franco et al., 1991).

Taxonomic notes: Bromelia pinguin is recognized by its terrestrial habit; adaxially red leaves; and stout erect inflorescences. This species resembles Bromelia alsodes St. John, distributed from Mexico to Nicaragua, but B. pinguin differs by its narrow floral bracts; petals densely tomentose at apex; and narrowly triangular sepals (Smith & Downs, 1979).

Conservation: Not endangered.

Uses: This species is cultivated as a living fence. It forms dense groups, which are impossible to pass through because of their strong spines (Manzanares, 2002). The raw fruits are edible (Cornejo, pers. obs. 1994).

Etymology: Not recorded.

Flora and Monograph Treatment(s):

Bromelia pinguin L.: [Article] Smith, Lyman B. & Downs, Robert J. 1979. Bromelioideae (Bromeliaceae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 14 (3): 1493-2142.
Bromelia pinguin L.: [Manuscript] Britton, Nathaniel L. Flora Borinqueña.
Bromelia pinguin L.: [Article] Smith, Lyman B. 1957. The Bromeliaceae of Colombia. Contr. U. S. Natl. Herb. 33: i-v, 1-311.
Bromelia pinguin L.: [Article] Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.