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

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

Description

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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

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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

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Subgenus Image Scientific name Distribution
Subgenus Helicodea (Lemaire) Baker Billbergia acreana H. Luther Brazil (Acre)
  Billbergia alfonsi-joannis Reitz from 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 Mez Rio de Janeiro
Billbergia dasilvae Leme Rondônia
Billbergia decora Poepp. & Endl. Peru, Bolivia, Brazil
  Billbergia eloiseae L.B.Sm. & Read Colombia
Billbergia formosa Ule Peru
Billbergia incarnata (Ruiz & Pavón) Schultes f. Peru
Billbergia issingiana T.Krömer & E.Gross Bolivia
Billbergia jandebrabanderi R.Vásquez & Ibisch Bolivia
  Billbergia macrolepis L.B.Sm. Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana
Billbergia magnifica Mez Brazil, Paraguay
Billbergia meyeri Mez Brazil, Bolivia
Billbergia microlepis L.B.Sm. Bolivia
Billbergia oxysepala Mez Acre, Ecuador
  Billbergia pallidiflora Liebmann Mexico and Central America from Sinaloa to Nicaragua
  Billbergia porteana Brongn. ex Beer Brazil, Paraguay
Billbergia robert-readii E.Gross & Rauh Peru
Billbergia rosea Beer Trinidad, Venezuela
Billbergia rubicunda Mez Suriname
Billbergia rupestris L.B.Sm. Colombia, Acre
Billbergia stenopetala Harms Ecuador, Peru
Billbergia tessmannii Harms Peru
Billbergia violacea Beer Brazil, Colombia, Guianas
Billbergia zebrina (Herb.) Lindl. Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay
Subgenus Billbergia Billbergia ambigua (L.B.Sm. & Read) Betancur & N.R.Salinas, syn. Pseudaechmea ambigua Antioquia
  Billbergia amoena (G.Lodd.) Lindl. Brazil
Billbergia bradeana L.B.Sm. Espírito Santo
  Billbergia buchholtzii Mez Brazil, but probably extinct
Billbergia castelensis E.Pereira Espírito Santo
  Billbergia chlorantha L.B.Sm. Espírito Santo
Billbergia × claudioi Leme - Brazil
  Billbergia distachya (Vell.) Mez southern Brazil
Billbergia domingosmartinsis E.Gross Espírito Santo
Billbergia elegans Martius ex Schultes f. Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais
  Billbergia euphemiae E.Morren southeastern Brazil
  Billbergia horrida Regel southeastern Brazil
Billbergia iridifolia (Nees & Mart.) Lindl. southeastern Brazil
Billbergia kautskyana E.Pereira Espírito Santo
Billbergia laxiflora L.B.Sm. Espírito Santo
  Billbergia leptopoda L.B.Sm. Bahia, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais
Billbergia lietzei E.Morren Espírito Santo
Billbergia lymanii E.Pereira & Leme southeastern Brazil
Billbergia macracantha E.Pereira Rio de Janeiro
  Billbergia macrocalyx Hooker Bahia, Minas Gerais
Billbergia manarae Steyerm. Venezuela
Billbergia minarum L.B.Sm. Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais
Billbergia morelii Brongn. eastern Brazil
Billbergia nana E.Pereira Bahia, Espírito Santo
  Billbergia nutans H.Wendland ex Regel Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay
Billbergia pohliana Mez Minas Gerais
  Billbergia pyramidalis (Sims) Lindl. Brazil, Venezuela, French Guiana, Lesser Antilles, Cuba; naturalized in Mauritius
Billbergia reichardtii Wawra Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais
Billbergia sanderiana E.Morren southeastern Brazil
Billbergia saundersii W.Bull eastern Brazil
Billbergia seidelii L.B.Sm. & Reitz Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro
Billbergia speciosa Thunb. southeastern Brazil
Billbergia tweedieana Baker southeastern Brazil
Billbergia viridiflora H.Wendland Belize, Guatemala, Tabasco
  Billbergia vittata Brongn. eastern Brazil

Distribution

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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

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