Guzmania lingulata
Description
Plant acaulescent, or sometimes with short stolons, very variable in size and color, 20-50 cm tall, with a funnelform rosette of about 15lustrous-green leaves. Leaves thin, 17-41 cm long, normally exceeding the inflorescence; sheaths distinct, slightly contracted or tapering into the blade, chartaceous, elliptic, slightly inflated, 5-10 x 3-4.8 cm, with distinct membranaceous margins, densely pale-brown punctulate-lepidote, pale, sometimes longitudinally red-striate, often dark brown at the base; blades arching or suberect, linear-oblanceolate or linear, 10.2-33 x 1.5-3 cm, subrounded, triangular attenuate or acuminate toward the apex, sparsely and minutely appressed-lepidote to subglabrous inside. Inflorescence erect, simple, 9-26 cm long; scape appearing stout by its bracts, 5-20 cm long, glabrous, densely covered by bracts; scape bracts erect, densely imbricate, linear-lanceolate, attenuate, acuminate, 4-5 times as long as the internodes, the upper ones enlarged and forming an involucre (exceeding the flowers), subdensely appressed-lepidote toward the base, yellow and often deep red toward the apex; raceme ovoid, 3.5-5.8 x 1.5-2.3 cm, very densely and polystichously few- to over 20-flowered; rachis much reduced, short and thickened; floral bracts erect between the flowers, chartaceous or membranaceous, with finely veined surface, ovate- or linear-lanceolate, 4.5-5.7 cm long, much exceeding the sepals, cucullate at the apex, ecarinate, minutely lepidote, yellowish, often red veined. Flowers erect, short pedicellate; sepals thin-coriaceous, with even surface, linear-lanceolate, 1.7-2.1 cm long, with broad veinless margins, obtuse and asymmetrically cucullate at the apex, evenly short connate, posterior ones bluntly carinate, subglabrous; petals erect, linear, to ca. 6 cm long, cucullate, white, often yellow toward the base; stamens included, filaments about as long as the pistil, flat and highly adnate to the petaltube, anthers dorsifixed, ca. 6 mm long; ovary ellipsoid, ca. 7 mm long, style slender, stigmas linear (?). Capsule cylindric, 3-3.5 cm long, short-beaked; coma pale reddish-brown.
Distribution
British Honduras present, Guianas present, Southern America: Bolivia (Bolivia present)
British Honduras and the West Indies to Bolivia and Brazil. Very common in the Guianas. 142 collections studied (23 — GU, 35 — SU, 63 — FG).