The Bromeliad Identification center maintains that the Bromelia that has gone 'wild' in Florida is really Bromelia sylvicola. I am intrigued that a plant found in Mato Grosso in Brazil (officially recorded in only 1891-1894, and 1953) has gone wild in Florida and yet Bromelia pinguin whose range extends from Mexico through tropical South America and the Caribbean Islands has no apparent foothold in Florida. With such a wide range you would expect variability and even mutation. I have a feeling that this species - whatever it may be - has been in Florida for many many years but where did it come from? Could it have got there when America got its Independence? About the same time, Opuntia got to Australia purely to grow mealie-bug for the red dye for the redcoat uniforms of the English.
So would you please start fossicking because it could reveal some interesting facts.
The problem article follows
Bromelia pinguin behaving badly by Derek Butcher
First a bit of history.This was known to taxonomists in 1700 as Ananas americana sylvestris altera minor but in 1753 Linnaeus called it Bromelia pinguin - a name that is surprisingly with us to this day. I say surprising because there has been lots of attempts to give it a different name.
When I first came across this name 30 years ago it intrigued me even though the plant is very slow indeed in Adelaide. So it should be, because it enjoys a tropical climate. I could not understand why it was named after a Penguin which is a small flightless bird endeared to people living in Southern Australia. Recent events of Bromelia pinguin behaving badly has caused me to check up its name. In one sense it means oily and I can understand this term being used if anyone ate a penguin. However, in the broad sense it means in good condition or fertile.
From what I have read about this species it sets seed easily and is always creating spiny bushes far and wide. Its fruit is not that attractive to humans so is not cultivated for that reason.
You can blame this article on Marc Turner of St. Petersburg, Florida because he sent me a photo of an unknown Bromelia that had started to flower. That was easy because it looked like a small Bromelia balansae and I thought it would just have to be the Bromelia sylvicola that Harry Luther talked about in J. Brom Soc 45:261. 1995. Marc kept an eye on his prickly patch and kept taking photos so he was able to show me how the inflorescence opened out while still continuing to flower and the name Bromelia pinguin kept coming to mind. How could such a dramatic change occur without anyone writing about it.
There is a moral to this tale although I am not sure what it is."
