Bromeliad care growing guzmania bromeliads indoors in beautiful displays
Bromelia is the type genus of the botanical family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae. Bromelia species are widespread across much of Latin America and the West Indies, and are characterized by flowers with a deeply cleft calyx. The genus is named after the Swedish medical doctor and botanist Olof Bromelius (1639-1705).
Bromelia nidus-puellae (André) André ex Mez - Colombia
Bromelia oliveirae L.B. Smith - Pará
Bromelia palmeri Mez - from Colima south to Oaxaca
Bromelia pinguin Linnaeus - West Indies; from Mexico to Ecuador and Suriname; naturalized in Florida
Bromelia poeppigii Mez - Peru
Bromelia redoutei (Baker) L.B. Smith - described 1889; origin unknown; probably extinct
Bromelia regnellii Mez - Brazil
Bromelia reversacantha Mez - Goiás
Bromelia rondoniana L.B. Smith - Rondônia
Bromelia scarlatina (hortus ex Hérincq) E. Morren - Ecuador + Brazil
Bromelia serra Grisebach - Brazil, French Guiana, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina
Bromelia superba Mez - Jamaica
Bromelia sylvicola S. Moore - Mato Grosso
Bromelia tarapotina Ule - Peru
Bromelia trianae Mez - Colombia
Bromelia tubulosa L.B. Smith - Venezuela + Brazil
Bromelia unaensis Leme & Scharf - Bahia
Bromelia urbaniana (Mez) L.B.Sm. - Paraguay + Argentina
Bromelia villosa Mez - Bolivia + Brazil
Cultivation and uses
The resistant fiber obtained from B. serra and B. hieronymi, both known as chaguar, is an essential component of the economy of the Wichí tribe in the semi-arid Gran Chaco region of Argentina. An 1841 publication described the fiber of silk grass (Bromelia karata) as "equal in durability to our best bowstrings."
