Billbergia
| Billbergia | |
|---|---|
| File:Billbergia amoena imported from iNaturalist photo 103342988 on 28 November 2023.jpg | |
| 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] | |
| |
Billbergia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae.
Description
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). 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
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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Distribution
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
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
- ↑ RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 978-1405332965.
- ↑ "Name - !Billbergia Thunb". Tropicos. 2022-04-09. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
- ↑ "Encyclopaedia of Bromeliads". Bromelia Contact Groep. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
External links
- File:Commons-logo.svg Media related to Billbergia at Wikimedia Commons
- File:Wikispecies-logo.svg Data related to Billbergia at Wikispecies
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bromeliaceae". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 632.Error: "Q132807" is not a valid Wikidata entity ID.
