Vriesea gladioliflora
Content
Description
Plant acaulescent, flowering to over 1 m long, with a funnelform(25-)35-60(-75) cm tall rosette of about 20pale-green leaves. Leaves coriaceous, (25-)40-65 (to over 100) cm long, about equaling the scape; sheaths distinct, tapering into the blade, ovate, slightly inflated-convex, (8-)15-20 x (4-)9.5-12 cm, with membranaceous margins, densely and minutely pale-brown lepidote on both sides, pale-ochraceous with a castaneous band at the very base outside; blades spreading and slightly arching, ligulate, broadly channeled, 25-40(-80) x 5.5-8.2 cm, (very) broadly rounded and apiculate (often reflexed), more or less appressed-lepidote or glabrous, pale green. Inflorescence suberect, simple; scape 30-40 cm long, 9-13 mm in diam., glabrous, hidden by bracts; scape bracts erect, densely imbricate, thin-coriaceous, ovate, acuminate, much exceeding the internodes, glabrous, slightly rugose toward the apex; raceme linear (-lanceolate) in outline or subcylindric, slightly (if at all) complanate, (12-)25-55 x 3-4(-5) cm, subacute or emarginate, densely and distichously (6-)15-40-flowered, with a few reduced sterile imbricate bracts at the apex; rachis hidden at anthesis, geniculate, angled, glabrous; floral bracts erect, imbricate, thin-coriaceous, finely rugose, broadly obovate to ovate, (3.4-)4-6 cm long, about three times as long as the internodes, (very) much exceeding the sepals, with broad membranaceous margins, obtuse (?), ecarinate, glabrous, green often with purple apex and margins. Flowers erect or slightly secund at anthesis, pedicellate; pedicel obconic, 4-6 mm long (including receptacle); sepals thin-coriaceous, slightly veined or even, elliptic, (2-)3 cm long, with membranaceous margins, broadly rounded, almost free, ecarinate; petals spathulate, with subspreading blade, pale-green, obtuse, bearing two large, fimbriate (?) ligules at the base; stamens slightly shorter than the petals, about equaling the pistil, filaments erect, flat, membranaceous, with thickened midvein, the inner short adnate to the petals, anthers basifixed, ca. 1.2 cm long; pistil slender; ovary 8 mm long, stigma large, sub-cyathiform. Capsule ellipsoid, ca. 3.5 cm long, rounded and short-beaked.