Tillandsia porongoensis  L Hromradnik & P Schneider, Haussknechtia 4: 39 (1988). English translation in JBS (1989) 103 –105.

 

Plant- elliptic, caulescent, leaves few, polystichous, up to 15 cm in bloom, stem arched, hardly branched 

Leaves- narrowly triangular, spreading to recurved, rigid, succulent, strongly involute, awl-Iike at the tip, acute, pungent, densely covered with silvery white, rather adpressed scales.

Leaf sheaths- distinct, adaxially even, glabrous, cherry red up to one half its length, abaxial surface paler in spots, like the leaf blades densely covered with scales in the upper half, surrounding the stem and concealing it, triangularly oval, 12 to 15 mm long, 15 to 20 mm wide.

Leaf blades- up to 12 cm long, recurved into a semicircle, 8-10 mm wide at the base, canaliculate, awl-shaped from about mid­point, with a sharp point, the edge of the leaf near the sheath and in its upper portion equipped with long scale hairs.

Scape- 4.5 to 5 cm long, 1.5 mm wide, glabrous.

Scape bracts- equal in length to the internodes of the scape, less densely scaled abaxially, adaxially glabrous, straw yellow, the lower ones surrounding the scape and subfoliaceous, the upper ones completely surrounding the scape, only the tip flares slightly, distinctly veined, 32 mm long, 9 mm wide.

Inflorescence- simple, distichous, narrowly lanceolate, 4 to 4.5 cm long, 7 to 9 mm wide, complanate, with 4 to 8 erect flowers, pedicels 1.5 mm long, rachis geniculate, not visible, naked, quadrangular, internodes 4 mm long.

Floral bracts- densely imbricate, covering the rachis, upper ones very short (10 mm) otherwise 16 to 20 mm long, 10 mm wide, pointed, leathery, nerved, ecarinate, tinted reddish brown, abaxially densely equipped with dish-shaped scale hairs, interior naked, straw-like.

Sepals- longitudinally oval, pointed, 12 to 14 mm long, 4 mm wide, very low connate, nerved, leathery, posteriorly slightly carinate, straw-like, glabrous; abaxially glabrous in the lower half, reddish brown, the upper half covered densely with scales.

Petals- 20 mm long, 2 to 3 mm wide, with blade 5 mm wide, blunt, oval, recurved, yellowish brown.

Filaments- white, ribbon-like, straight, 0.3 mm wide, 10 mm long.

Anthers- 1.5 mm long, enclosed in the flower, which is tube-shaped at the bottom.

Style- somewhat thinner than the ovary, with stigma 8 mm long.

Ovary- longitudinally oval, 4 mm long, 2.5 mm wide.

 

Habitat and distribution: This plant is found very rarely and only in lone specimens on the sides of large boulders where it grows along with the saxicolous form of Tillandsia gilliesii Baker (or T. caliginosa W. Till) var. saxicola (nom. nud.) and other tillandsias in the surrounding dry forest: T. lorentziana Grisebach, T. duratii Visiani var. saxatilis (Hassler) L. B. Smith, T. capillaris Ruiz & Pavon, and others.

 

Holotype. Argentina. Depto. La Rioja, in the Sierra de Porongo, south of Malanzan, 850 msm, leg. H. and L. Hromadnik 7321 1981 (WU).

 

Tillandsia porongoensis has been known up to now only from this one very isolated mountain range where it is found at sites up to 30 km apart.

 

Comments – Despite searches in the vicinity since its discovery no re-collections have been made suggesting this was a hybrid as first thought between T. duratii v. saxatilis and T. gilliesii.