|
|
[2nd Image]
|
 |
|
|
| Category: Succulent |
| Family: Bromeliaceae (Bromeliads) |
| Origin: Central America (North America) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Variegated Foliage: Yes |
| Flower Color: Pink |
| Bloomtime: Spring |
| Synonyms: [B. oaxacana] |
| Height: 1-2 feet |
| Width: 1-2 feet |
| Exposure: Shade |
| Summer Dry: Yes |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 25-30° F |
|
|
|
|
Billbergia pallidiflora - An epiphytic plant that grows to 12 to 18 inches tall with a cluster of upright rosettes of a few stiff green leaves that have broad gray-white horizontal banding and evenly spaced small sharp teeth along the margins. In flower in spring this plant has long pale pink bracts and long pale green and violet flowers. Plant in part sun or bright shade in a pot or as an epiphyte in a tree crotch and irrigate occasionally. Seems to be fairly hardy and at least able to tolerate a couple degrees below freezing for short durations. The genus Billbergia is a large genus that ranges from South America north into Mexico with majority of species in Brasil. Billbergia pallidiflora is a species native to Central America from Nicaragua north through Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala up into western Mexico as far north as Sinaloa. It is the most northerly growing of the genus and one of the two species of Billbergia found in Mexico, with other species B. viridiflora recorded only from the southern state of Tabasco south to Guatemala. At one time there were considered to be four Mexican species but Billbergia chiapensis, B. mexicana and B. oaxacana have all been synonymized with B. pallidiflora. These plants are well camouflaged plant and found growing fairly high up in trees in tropical deciduous or semi deciduous forest or oak forest, lowlands and foothills along the Pacific slope from sea-level up to around 4,500 feet. The name of the genus honors the Swedish Gustaf (Gustave) Johan Billberg (1772-1844) who was a lawyer by profession and a self-trained botanist, zoologist, and anatomist and authored the Flora of Sweden. The specific epithet is from the Latin words Latin 'pallide' meaning "pale" and 'flora' meaning 'flower' in reference to the pale colored light pink flowers it has compared other more showy Billbergias with flowers of brighter colors. We received a plant with developing fruit from John Bleck in 2019 tagged Billbergia oaxacana and our crop is from seed we collected from this plant in August 2020.
Information displayed on this page about Billbergia pallidiflora is based on the research conducted about it in our library and from reliable online resources. We also note those observations we have made of this plant as it grows in the nursery's garden and in other gardens, as well how crops have performed in our nursery field. We will incorporate comments we receive from others, and welcome to hear from anyone who may have additional information, particularly if they share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
|
| |
|
|
|
