NEOREGELIA HATSCHBACHII. L.B. SMITH, 1955 (see J Brom Soc 33(5): 192. 1983 for photo.) One of the bromeliads I purchased soon after moving to Queensland, was a very large, attractive neoregelia. It gained in colour pigment when grown in full sun and the best colour came in the year following maturity, when, if the offsets have not been removed, they overshadow the parent by their sturdy growth.
The label said Neoregelia Monstrusum, a name I failed to find in any of my books. On asking around, someone said they thought a grower on the northern outskirts of Brisbane had imported the plant from Europe.
One of our members reported to me that while in Florida at the Selby Gardens, a plant resembling our Neo. Monstrusum had been viewed and the name of it was Neoregelia hatschbachii.
On checking my books I find the plant in many collections under the name of Neo. Monstrusum, should have the label changed to Neoregelia hatchbachii.
OLWEN FERRIS.
I got into the act in the 1990's and started writing to Harry Luther because I could not understand how Smith could describe this plant as being small. Something was amiss! In 1994 Harry agreed that there had been a misidentification and this detail went into the Australian hybrid checklists.
In turn it eventually got into the Cultivar Register 1998 as follows
Neoregelia Monstrosus (Monstrousa) Kent* ,1980
Butcher says, "Named by H. Luther at Queensland Conference 1985 as hatschbachii which was corrected in 1994 to cruenta (red form)". Kent Catalog 1977 lists 'Monstrousa'? - 1997 verbal commentary by Harry Luther says this is an unidentified species from Kents.
References Butcher1991; 1997, TF1980
From J Brom Soc 48(5): 223. 1998 by Harry Luther
At a later date, larger and broader leaf selections of N. johannis were introduced as N. cruenta, a species with which N. johannis shares a somewhat similar foliage coloration but little else. True N. cruenta has hard, green or yellow-green (rarely reddish) leaves with a dark red "finger nail" and blue-violet petal blades. Many clones of N. cruenta are in cultivation, mostly correctly identified; rarely, the red leaf form is misnamed as N. hatschbachii (something else entirely).
In 2009 we still come across plants with N. hatschbachii on the label and because few know about the link to 'Monstrosus' it goes uncorrected. We also know that this red-leafed clone is not only a rare form of Neo cruenta but has silvery bands on both sides of the leaves, not mentioned in the description in Smith & Downs. Just as there are so many names given to various forms of Vriesea fosteriana ie 'Red Chestnut' there seems even more reason that the name 'Monstrosus' should be retained as cultivar form of N. cruenta and not lost under the vague term 'red leaved'."
