NEWS East London LETTER Bromeliad Society February 2017 South Africa Established: 25 July 2009 Our aim is to promote and encourage awareness and interest in Bromeliads in East London and all of South Africa! ELBS is an Affiliated Society of Bromeliad Society International January Meeting Our chairman, Dudley Reynolds opened the meeting Linda Flanagan, welcoming everyone after the long holiday break. Thirty our super host members gathered on a HOT summer afternoon and it for the afternoon was good to welcome four visitors as well. Nice to see with her hat on and Larraine some faces we haven’t seen in a while, welcome back, Parathyras and hope we see more of you! It was wonderful to kick off Norma Hart the first meeting of the year at the home of Chris and behind. Below Linda Flanagan. A wonderful setting with charming the front part of L i n d a ’ s gardens front and back with loads of special features aw esome which added lots of character, calm and special garden. spaces surrounding the house with the birds coming to enjoy it too. Thank you so much for sharing your special place with us Linda. Brenda gave a short talk on the importance of labelling your bromeliads and Dudley spoke about the daunting name changes we are going to have to make and remember!!!! Plus we had some super Show and Tell plants and the usual Raffles Draws, Lucky Draws, Member Plant sales and a delicious tea to round everything off. A good afternoon of camaraderie between bromeliad lovers and friends! The Importance of Labelling Your Bromeliads - Brenda Wegner We moved to a new house 12 years ago and after spending about a year doing alterations we were ready to start on the garden. There were a lot of trees around the perimeter but not much else. I decided to go indigenous with aloes, succulents and a few cycads. Now the twist comes in with having Lyn Wegner as a sister in law. Lyn started collecting these amazing plants called bromeliads, which I had never seen or knew existed. At that time not many people had bromeliads in East London or had even heard of the word ‘bromeliad’. I became hooked on these fascinating, unusual and unique looking plants and slowly started collecting and filling my garden with them. I just loved them because you could plant them, mount them on trees, logs, rocks and display them in hanging baskets. When I first started collecting I would always take the label out and give it back to Lyn and say “Keep it and re-use it as I’m never going to remember the different species or the names”. Lyn would look unhappy and reply “One day you will be sorry that you didn't keep your labels”. Now years later I regret that early decision Next meeting: Sunday 26th February at 2.00pm. To be hosted by Gale Kockjeu at 3 Greenan Street, Berea. Bring your mug, chair and a difficult bromeliad you want to split. East London Bromeliad Society South Africa February 2017 Page 1 not to keep them. I learnt the hard way and now ensure the plants I add to my collection are labelled whenever possible. For example, many neoregelia are not easy to identify because some are so similar and the colouration changes depending on growing conditions. I have tried to ‘Google’ many bromeliads to find a name, but a lot of the time I will not put pen to label as I am not 100% sure it’s correct. An important part of collecting bromeliads is labelling, for the following reasons: • You don’t necessarily want to buy the same plant again. It's a good idea to keep an inventory of the plants you have in your collection. • If you are selling or swapping plants from your collection, it is important that they are labelled. • Visitors to your garden will often ask the names of various bromeliads. • It's a good way to become familiar with your plants. • You can go into bsi.org and fcbs.org to find out more info on a particular plant. • I use an Artline 725 superfine point permanent marker to write on my labels. You can use plastic strips cut from yoghurt or ice-cream tubs to make labels. • Some people prefer using a 2B pencil. You need to keep an eye on the labels though as 'permanent' doesn't always mean 'permanent'! • Labels shouldn't detract from your plant. • You can position a label in the side of your pot where it is visible and you could bury a second label in the pot just in case visitors or 'little people' mix up your labels. • Andre Eybers commented on the importance of plants being labelled. • Glenn Miles told us he labels his clivia by having a code on the pot which ties up with all the info regarding that particular clivia on lists he compiles. Glenn also writes the name of his plant on the outside of the pot. • The bottom line, label your bromeliads in the manner that best suits you. HAPPY LABELLING!!!! Changes - Dudley Reynolds Based on Herb Plever’s article on Taxonomic changes in the family Tillandsioideae dated January 2017. I decided to walk around my garden and collection to see how many labels I would have to change to their new names. What brought about these changes? We realise that molecular biologists and taxonomists have been doing phytogenetic tests and have had a closer look at the morphology of bromeliad species, concentrating on species habitats, the physical structure of the plant and its parts. As most of us have difficulty in remembering bromeliad names in the first place, change is always very daunting. However, change is inevitable and I suppose we have to absorb it and carry on enjoying our collection of plants B.Black and hobby. What we know as Tillandsia lindenii is probably now going B.Black I can remember writing an article and doing a talk, a to be called Wallisia ‘ Duvalii’. few years ago, on plant name changes and how its Vriesea splendens is now called effects. The bromeliad family as we knew it comprised of Lutheria splendens . three sub families, being Bromelioideae , Tillandsioideae and Pitcairnioideae. Now as it stands, the family comprises of eight sub families: Brocchinioideae, Lindmanioideae, Hechtioideae, Puyodeae, Navioideae, plus the previous three sub families. Phew!!! That is a mouth full! I have brought with me a few plants with new names. B.Black Tillandsia cyanea now called: Wallisia cyanea T. cyanea is now known as Tillandsia anceps " Wallisia anceps Wallisia cyanea . Tillandsia lindenii " Wallisia ‘ Duvalii’ Tillandsia narthecioides " Lemeltonia narthecioides Vriesea espinosae " Tillandsia espinosae B.Black Vriesea splendens " Lutheria splendens Vriesea glutinosa is now known Vriesea glutinosa " Lutheria glutinosa as Lutheria glutinosa . As much as we are uncomfortable with change, it must Left, Tillandsia narthecioides never detract us from the enjoyment of growing now known as Lemeltonia fcbs.org narthecioides. East London Bromeliad Society South Africa February 2017 Page 2 bromeliads. Who knows? we might even learn the new names!! The more we use them, the easier it will become. On the positive side, the bromeliad family is much smaller than the orchid family. Now that was a difficult one for me, which I am still battling with. Chrsito van Wijk from Pretoria had many comments to make on the name changes too and would like to see members changing their labels to the new names. It's a good idea to go into the NewBromeliadTaxonList every now and then. This is where you will find all the correct name changes. It's easy to just type in NewBromeliadTaxonList which takes you to the site. You will no doubt also discover that some of the bromeliads in your collection were renamed a long time ago, but are still circulating with their old name. Christo has compiled a list which I am sure he will be happy to email to you. You can contact Christo at cell: 0718724886 or [email protected] Show and Tell Dudley Reynolds: I make a point of bringing a tray of cryptanthus, photo right, to a meeting a few times a year just to show those who don't grow them how delightful they are and to encourage you to grow them in your collections. I find some species of cryptanthus quite challenging to grow in our climate. Those that do grow and do well are well worth the effort. I have moved my collection around to find the most suitable spot to grow these little terrestrials in my yard. As with most bromeliads, correct light plays a big role. Too strong light leaves them rather bleached, especially the ones with the patterning in the leaves called ‘zonation’. I find that some species battle even in mild winters and have recorded leaves dying back as soon as the temperature Dudley Reynolds’ cryptanthus. goes under 10*c, which is a new feature of our winters lately. However, I still derive a lot of pleasure from growing them and I encourage you to do the same. For those of you who don't enjoy mild winters as we do on the coast, protection and warmth in winter would be required to grow them successfully. Dr Pete Pfister showed his AMAZING clump of ginormous Tillandsia capitata ‘Peach’. Pete also showed his large, spiky and stunning Aechmea Above , Aechmea ‘Blue Tango’ and Dr ‘Blue Tango’ with the most vibrant blue Pete Pfister with his clump of Tillandsia colouration in the inflorescence. capitata ‘ Peach’. Library Book Review - Brenda Wegner Bromeliads by Walter Richter Some of the topics discussed: Introduction to the Bromeliaceae family, A Little Botany, Habitat Descriptions, Flower Formation, Fruits – Seeds – Germination, On Multiplying, Transplanting, and Planting of Epiphytes.