#deuterocohnia

[ruthbancroftgarden]

Deuterocohnia lottae

This is one of the Deuterocohnia species that was originally put in the genus Abromeitiella, forming mounds of stiff sharp-toothed leaves and with very short inflorescences tucked amongst the leaves. These plants belong to the Bromeliad Family. Now all the Abromeitiella species are included in Deuterocohnia, putting them in with plants having much larger rosettes and tall wiry flower stalks. Unlike the similar-looking D. brevifolia, with its green flowers, D. lottae has dark red flowers, with just a bit of green at the mouth. It comes from Bolivia.

-Brian

[frmarino]

Deuterocohnia brevifolia

[photoblogdujour]

Escher was a plant designer before getting into wood cuts.

Escher's girdle. It's back.

[morphons]

Deuterocohnia brevispicata. Munich Botanical Garden, May 2019.

[ruthbancroftgarden]

Deuterocohnia lottae

The plants now included in Deuterocohnia were formerly placed in two genera: Deuterocohnia (with long wiry flower stalks and usually yellow flowers) and Abromeitiella (with very short flower stalks, so that the flowers are nested among the leaves, along with flowers that are usually green). D. lottae is one of the latter species, but it is unique in how red its flowers are - with just a bit of green at the tips. As with other species formerly included in Abromeitiella, it has small rosettes of stiff sharp-tipped leaves and a mounding growth habit. Deuterocohnia elongs to the Bromeliad Family, and D. lottae comes from the Andes in Bolivia.

-Brian

[ruthbancroftgarden]

Deuterocohnia brevifolia (Abromeitiella brevifolia)

It was a shock to many of us in the horticultural world when the plants formerly placed in Abromeitiella got put into Deuterocohnia. The original plants in Deuterocohnia had long wiry flower stalks and narrow-tubular yellow flowers, as well as relatively large rosettes of leaves. In contrast, the tiny heads of the plants in Abromeitiella formed dense mounds, and had green flowers which barely protruded from the leaves. But it turns out they are all closely related, and the decision was made to put them together in Deuterocohnia. Deuterocohnia brevifolia enjoys wide popularity among growers because it makes such a neat clump, and does well as a potted plant. From Argentina and Bolivia, and belonging to the Bromeliad Family.

[ruthbancroftgarden]

Deuterocohnia schreiteri

The original plants placed in Deuterocohnia (like this one) have long wiry branching flower stalks, unusual in that they sprout new branches and re-flower in successive years (so you don’t cut them back when the year’s flowers have finished). The long, very narrow flowers are also typical. In recent years, however, the genus Abomeitiella has been merged into Deuterocohnia, and this changes the picture considerably. The plants formerly in Abomeitiella have much smaller rosettes and form large dome-like clusters of many heads (over time, many hundreds of heads), and in addition their flowers peek out from between the leaves rather than growing on long wiry stalks. These plants belong to the Bromeliad Family, and they are native to the southern half of South America.

-Brian

[ruthbancroftgarden]

Deuterocohnia lotteae

This small clumping bromeliad was formerly in the genus Abromeitiella, but this genus was then merged into Deuterocohnia. It has small highly succulent dagger-like leaves, with sharp teeth along the edges. The tubular flowers are reddish, rather than green like its more commonly-seen relatives D. brevifolia, D. chlorantha and D. lorentziana. It grows at high altitudes in the Bolivian Andes.

-Brian