Apparently this change was not generally accepted and is not part of The Binomial Listing by Harry Luther. The Germans continue to describe these plants as Vriesea eg. Vriesea gruberi by Ehlers in Die Bromelie 1/1999. But to add to my confusion Harry Luther used the genus Tillandsia with his revision of Tillandsia engleriana in Selbyana 20 (1) 13 (1999). Clearly the botanists are confused too and now to my problem.
I had always considered Vriesea rauhii (or is it Tillandsia werneriana?) to be fairly common in collection whereas Vriesea andreettae ( or is it Tillandsia?) was rare.
| In 1985 I purchased a Vriesea rauhii from Paul Isley at Rainforest Flora in Los Angeles In the late 1980's it flowered and after correspondence with Harry Luther and obtaining photocopies of herbarium specimens I decided the plant just had to be Vriesea andreettae even though I had no collection data. |  |
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One of the herbarium sheets was a Vriesea andreettae collected by Dennis Cathcart and Wally Berg in 1988, so when I saw Dennis had Vriesea rauhii for sale at Tropiflora in 1992 I felt I was on to a winner. After all, Dennis must know the difference between the two species. In late 1999 my Vriesea rauhii flowered but again I think I have Vriesea andreettae! |
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 Vriesea andreettae |
Photographs of Vriesea andreettae by Werner Rauh in BSIJ 1982 p266 and Vriesea rauhii in BSIJ 1988 p115 show that my identification of my plants to be Vriesea andreettae could well be correct. Please compare these photographs in the inflorescence, the leaf structure, and the indument with the photographs of my plants. |  Vriesea rauhii |
I am still on the search for a true Vriesea rauhii but do ask whether you have a plant of this name but have not doubted its identity!
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