Vriesea hodgei Smith (1948: 14)

Kessous, Igor M. & Costa, Andrea F., 2023, Novelties in “ incertae sedis ” Vriesea (Bromeliaceae: Tillandsioideae): Redescriptions, new combinations and nomenclatural revision, Phytotaxa 585 (2), pp. 71-101 : 88

3.3 Vriesea hodgei Smith (1948: 14) .

Type: — COLOMBIA. Antioquia: epiphytic, summer-flowering evergreen woods, near Porcesito, Valley of Rio Medellin , ca. 1,100 m elev., 19 May 1946, Hodge 6867 (holotype GH!, isotype US!)

Description:—Plant epiphytic, flowering ca. 1.5 m high. Leaves in a rosette; sheath oblong-elliptic, 14−20 × 7−10 cm, densely brown lepidote on both surfaces; blade linear-oblong, narrower toward the apex, apex acuminate, 40–76 × 4–6 cm, sparsely lepidote on the adaxial surface, densely lepidote on the abaxial surface. Inflorescence compound, once-branched, ca. 1.45 m long at anthesis, erect; peduncle erect, ca. 60 cm long and 5.8 mm in diameter, glabrous; peduncle bracts erect, imbricate, apex obtuse, 8–10 cm long, salmon and yellow, sparsely lepidote on both surfaces; main axis straight to sinuous, ca. 65 cm long and 2.8–3.8 mm in diameter, glabrous; primary bracts elliptic to oblong, 34–70 × 15–27 mm, sparsely lepidote on the adaxial surface, glabrous abaxially; spikes ca. 20 (including the terminal one), 11–24 cm, in an angle of 70–80º to the main axis, densely 6–14 flowered, with 1–3 sterile bracts at the base; rachis straight, 7–16 cm long, 2.2 mm in diameter. Floral bracts oblong, apex obtuse, 28–33 × 11–13 mm, slightly carinate, salmon and yellow, exceeding the sepals, sparsely lepidote on the adaxial surface, glabrous on the abaxial surface. Flowers ca. 11 mm apart, distichous, suberect and contiguous with the rachis; sepals narrowly elliptic, ca. 25 × 3.7 mm, connate for ca. 3 mm, carinate, symmetric, sparsely lepidote; petals ca. 30 mm long, white; petal appendages ca. 12 mm long; stamens included; ovary cylindrical, ca. 6 mm long and 1.3 mm in diameter when dry. Fruits suberect, ca. 25 mm; seeds without apical coma.

Distribution: —This species occurs as an epiphyte in the region of Antioquia, Colombia, at ca. 1,100 m above sea level.

Taxonomic and nomenclatural notes: —No additional specimens of this species have been found since its first description, and important traits for generic delimitation are not found in the type specimen. However, the combination of characteristics, such as flowers with included stamens, connate sepals, white petals, and the absence of the apical coma on the seeds, lead us to consider it as morphologically proximate to Cipuropsis , in addition to the mutual geographic distribution in northwestern South America.

Etymology: —The specific epithet “ hodgei ” refers to the collector of the type, Walter H. Hodge (1912–2013).