"Uncle Derek Says"

Derek Butcher Derek Butcher, of Adelaide, Australia, has spent more than 20 years as a self professed "pseudobotanist," working to unravel the intricacies of Bromeliacae. He is well known in Australia for his book, "An Amateur's Guide to the Greyish Leaved TILLANDSIOIDEAE" to help interpret his favorite genus, Tillandsia, and his checklist to keep order in the hybrids produced in his country. He is the first Australian to have a Bromeliad species named after him - Puya butcheriana
Research in Bolivia (See J. Brom. Soc.52(4): pages 158-65. 2002) has found that there is such a thing as Puya tunarensis which Lyman Smith had treated as being a Puya humilis. At the same time they found that with the information from Puya butcheriana there was reason to broaden the concept of Puya humilis and treat Puya butcheriana as a synonym. So alas I am no more. But do not worry too much because the holotype in Selby Botanical Gardens will still have my name on it and I will survive as a dried specimen!
"Misnamed Bromeliads are irritating. Problems exported to down-under (or Australia if you prefer) with world-wide implications are sometimes solved and we would like to share our findings with you. This page will present information on some of these misnamed bromeliads."

"When showing parentage of hybrids you will notice the use of parent names as used by the hybridist and not the more recent updated name. This is because the emphasis these days is on clones and cultivars, and this way we are getting as close to this concept as we are able. Secondly there are certain unknown factors when showing parentage.

  1. It may be a selfing and not a hybrid as in the alleged XOrthotanthus 'What'.
  2. The identification of either parent may be in doubt so if we know the hybridist and the name used, then trying to correct the situation without the facts only compounds the error. For example we now know that some of Foster's Neo. marmorata were really Neo. chlorosticta but which plants did he use? Another example is Neo. chlorosticta which L B Smith treated as a Neo. sarmentosa and then, some years later changed his mind! There are many more examples."
"In showing the difference between species and cultivars we are using the system as used in the Bromeliad Cultivar Registry. A species is shown totally in lower case and a cultivar in single quotes with the first letter a capital letter. While this is not the interpretation others may have of the International Code of Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants 1995 it is simple and easily understood. The use of X is out even for latinised names. It was difficult to pronounce anyway!"

Please send your comments and opinions to UncleDerekSays@fcbs.org
Your comments will be published on these pages unless you request otherwise.

Uncle Derek Says Index

  1. Aechmea bromeliifolia, 'Brillig', 'Red Bands' and allied hybrids
    OR, Get to know your Aechmea maculata!

  2. Aechmea caudata v. eipperi

  3. Aechmea chantinii

  4. Aechmea 'Covata' and Covata Too'

  5. Aechmea 'Derek's Organensis Ha Ha'

  6. Aechmea 'Derek's Organensis Ha Ha' Revisited

  7. Aechmea ‘Echidna’

  8. Aechmea 'Electra' / 'Electrica'

  9. Aechmea 'Flaming Star / 'Covata'

  10. Aechmea 'Foster's Favorite' Complex

  11. Aechmea Fulgens/Miniata Group

  12. Aechmea 'Gaiters' / caesia

  13. Aechmea gracilis

  14. Aechmea lamarchei

  15. Aechmea nudicaulis

  16. Aechmea nudicaulis v. aureo-rosea

  17. Aechmea organensis

  18. Aechmea orlandiana ss. belloi

  19. Aechmea pimenti-velosoi variegata / 'Pie In The Sky'

  20. Aechmea 'Pinegrove Lass' or is it xBillnelia 'Sebastian Laruelle'?

  21. Aechmea 'Polyantha'

  22. Aechmea 'Reginald'/'Reginaldo'

  23. Aechmea seideliana - an identity problem. Revisited in 2006.

  24. Aechmea serrata

  25. Aechmea sphaeroglossa nomen nudum

  26. xAechopsis 'Karamea Sello'

  27. Androlepis skinneri

  28. Anomalies in Baensch

  29. Billbergia alfonsi-joannis versus Billbergia maxima

  30. Billbergia brachysiphon

  31. Billbergia 'Breauteana' / 'Chas Webb'

  32. Billbergia buchholtzii

  33. Billbergia buchholtzii, now 'Buchholtzii'

  34. Billbergia 'Calophylla'

  35. Billbergia 'Calophylla' Part II

  36. Billbergia elegans

  37. Billbergia 'Elfin'

  38. Billbergia fosteriana = Billbergia saundersii ??

  39. Billbergia 'Gerda' / 'Grande' / 'Royal Vase'

  40. The link between Billbergia 'Leodiensis' and Billbergia 'Elvenia Slosson'

  41. Billbergia leptopoda / Billbergia lietzei

  42. Billbergia lietzei var. chlorantha

  43. Billbergia magnifica versus Billbergia alfonsi-joannis

  44. Billbergia nutans

  45. Billbergia porteana / rosea / zebrina

  46. Billbergia pyramidalis, Or the search for the totally red petalled form

  47. Billbergia 'Rubro-Cyanea' - Does Billbergia 'Rubro-Cyanea' equal 'Hoelscheriana' equal 'Ivey Meyer' equal 'Pixie' ?

  48. Billbergia 'Striata' / Billbergia 'Imposter'

  49. Billbergia 'Windigig Special'

  50. Billbergia 'Windii' / 'Theodore L. Mead'

  51. Some cultivated Bromelias

  52. Bromelia pinguin

  53. Canistropsis billbergioides

  54. Canistropsis marceloi

  55. Canistropsis seidelii var. welteri

  56. Canistrum triangulare / fosterianum v. pardinum

  57. Cryptanthus 'Rainbow Star' De-mystified - by Nina Rehak

  58. DEUTEROCOHNIA (That were Abromeitiella)

  59. Ecuadorian Platyaechmea

  60. Edmundoa 'Alvim Seidel'

  61. FASCICULARIA

  62. FORMULAS AND FORMULAE / Vriesea 'Elfi'

  63. Gravisia (A group now swallowed up by Aechmea)

  64. Guzmania 'Penny Wise'

  65. Guzmania sprucei versus dissitiflora

  66. Hechtia tillandsioides

  67. Hohenbergiopsis guatemalensis

  68. In search of the elusive black Neoregelia

  69. Neoregelia amandae

  70. Neoregelia 'Barbara'/Barbie Doll'

  71. Neoregelia 'Bill Morris'

  72. Neoregelia 'Blue Shark'

  73. Neoregelia 'Bob'

  74. Neoregelia 'Bob Read' / 'Bob Reads Lad'

  75. Neoregelia 'Bossa Nova' versus 'Sheba'

  76. Neoregelia carolinae var. roseo-striata / farinosa

  77. Neoregelia 'Calypso' / 'Cockabell'

  78. Neoregelia concentrica, 'BELIEVE IT OR NOT'

  79. Neoregelia correia-araujoi, a natural hybrid?

  80. Neoregelia correia-araujoi, a natural hybrid(?) revisited.

  81. Neoregelia dungsiana

  82. Neoregelia 'Ferris'

  83. Neoregelia 'German Hybrid'

  84. Neoregelia 'Green Cherry'

  85. Neoregelia hatschbachii really 'Monstrosus'

  86. Neoregelia 'Heart Music' and 'Heart Music Too'

  87. Neoregelia 'Kent's Blue'

  88. Neoregelia 'Marble Throat' hybrids

  89. Neoregelia 'Marcon'

  90. Neoregelia 'Massey'

  91. Neoregelia 'Melan'

  92. Neoregelia olens

  93. Neoregelia 'Orange Glow' versus 'Orange Flush'

  94. Neoregelia 'Plutonis' / 'Proserpine'

  95. Neoregelia princeps

  96. Neoregelia 'Princess Caroline'

  97. Neoregelia 'Punctate'

  98. Neoregelia punctatissima

  99. Neoregelia 'Purple Haze' / Neoregelia fosteriana

  100. Neoregelia 'Red Waif'/'Cayenne'

  101. Neoregelia sarmentosa

  102. Neoregelia 'Takemura Grande'

  103. Neoregelia tristis / Neoregelia 'Freckles' / Neoregelia guttata

  104. Neoregelia uleana / Neoregelia 'Yuletide'

  105. Nidularium cariacicaense

  106. Nidularium 'Leprosa'

  107. Nidularium 'Leprosa' ..... take two

  108. Nidularium lubbersianum Hort Leod

  109. Nidularium Morobe mess

  110. Nidularium rubens

  111. Notes on the Checklists of Mexican Bromeliaceae 1994 and 2004

  112. Ochagavia litoralis

  113. Orthophytum 'Ivory Tower'

  114. Orthophytum 'Starlights'

  115. Phylidonyris novaehollandiae and Tillandsia usneoides

  116. Pitcairnia 'Hartwig'

  117. Pitcairnia hitchcockiana

  118. Pitcairnia inermis var. flava

  119. Pitcairnia patentiflora var. subintegra

  120. Portea alatisepala versus Aechmea rubrolilacina

  121. Portea petropolitana var. extensa

  122. Puya raimondii

  123. Species Database

  124. New Tillandsia Handbook by Hideo Shimizu and Hiroyuki Takisawa.

  125. Tillandsias with Paddle-shaped inflorescences - anceps, cyanea, lindenii, pretiosa, umbellata

  126. Tillandsia albertiana / argentina / dorotheae - Flowering periods in hybrids

  127. Tillandsia hybrids with T. albertiana as one of the parents

  128. Tillandsia balbisiana as havanensis

  129. Tillandsia boliviensis

  130. Tillandsia 'Califano Too'

  131. Tillandsia carminea 'Dennis'

  132. Tillandsia castellanii

  133. Tillandsia chartacea and I

  134. Tillandsia 'Creamy' - Growing Tillandsias from seed

  135. Tillandsia 'Enano'

  136. Tillandsia 'Floridana'

  137. Tillandsia gutteana

  138. Tillandsia 'Kashkin' / 'Inca Gold'

  139. Tillandsia latifolia

  140. Tillandsia 'Nez Misso'

  141. Tillandsia 'Pfantom' / pfeufferi

  142. DO YOU REALLY KNOW TILLANDSIA POLYSTACHIA?

  143. Tillandsia pucaraensis / guelzii

  144. Tillandsia 'Spanish Gold'

  145. Tillandsia usneoides

  146. Tillandsia-like Vrieseas

  147. Vriesea 'Brentwood'

  148. Vriesea 'Conferta'

  149. Vriesea 'Corralina'

  150. Vriesea 'Elan'

  151. Vriesea 'Elfi' and 'Elfi Natascha'

  152. Vriesea 'Goldfinger'

  153. Vriesea 'Hoelscheriana'

  154. Vriesea 'Kitteliana'

  155. Vriesea 'Komet'

  156. Vriesea 'Mira'

  157. Vriesea 'Sanderiana'

  158. Vriesea 'Snow White'

  159. Vriesea triligulata / 'Seidel 981'

  160. Vriesea 'Van Ackeri' - by Peter Huddy

  161. Vriesea 'Vista Charm' or 'Derek's Dilemma'

  162. Vriesea x morreniana hortus ex E. Morren

  163. What is a mule? / xNeomea 'Mad Allan' / 'Scarlet Ladd'

  164. Wittrockia 'Leopardinum'

  165. xAnagelia 'Madam Lash' and its siblings 'Toy Boy' and 'Sweet Seduction'

  166. xCanmea 'Galaxy' / xCanmea 'Smokey'

  167. xDeuterocairnia 'Lenny'

  168. xHohenelia 'Nifty Nev'

  169. xNidumea 'Jean'

  170. xNiduregelia 'Ruby Ryde'!

  171. xPuckia 'Sparkle'
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