In October 2007 you would have thought it looked like the hybrid, Billbergia 'Windii', because Mike Andreas, the fcbs.org webmaster, had received and posted a photo from Florida of a plant called Billbergia brachysiphon. On 7th November 2007 Andrew Benn started asking questions about B. brachysiphon and as I usually do in such cases, I check what is on fcbs.org. PANIC because there was this photo of B. 'Windii'. Mike removed it quick smart. I then received a photo of B. brachysiphon from Colombia which is its natural habitat. It did have some similaries to B. 'Windii' but not enough for me the doubt the word of a Colombian. This was sent to Mike for posting. As soon as it was posted Harry Luther contacted us by saying in effect why don't you use a proper photo like the one attached. Admittedly it was the variety breviflora but at least it got us thinking. So now everyone knows what B. brachysiphon looks like although the chances of ever growing one are very slim indeed.
My question to Harry was how on earth did a European hybrid get collected in the wild in Colombia? He replied that in his experience it had also been collected in Peru, Venezuela and Surinam. So we can add Colombia to the list. How they got there is conjecture but my view is that local people believed that a hybrid must be better than what grew naturally in their area. They then learnt the error of their ways and tossed out the plant in some rubbish dump, legal or not. Other rubbish would have rotted down but Bromeliads survive. There have been no reports of feral Bromeliads taking over a particular area, but it does show that even in the so called jungle you will come across the influence of man!
And, finally to show we have been going round in ever decreasing circles I report my latest advice from Emilio Latorre in Colombia. Yes, Emilio did find the plant in Colombia but as an unnamed plant in a local nursery in Cali, Colombia. Investigation on fcbs.org showed just the plant he was seeking so it was called Billbergia brachysiphon and a photo sent to me!
The final icing on the cake was an email to the fcbs.org webmaster from Jayne Schultz with the below photo attached.
Jayne wanted to know if this was Billbergia brachysiphon. Clearly it is Billbergia 'Windii'
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