Guzmania ; species s - s
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| G. sanguinea | 2,4,5, ** |
| G. sanguinea var. comosa | 3,6,7, **, ** |
| G. scherzeriana | 8,9, **, Travels Costa Rica-A |
| G. sprucei | 10, Travels Costa Rica-A |
| G. squarrosa | 11 |
| G. sp. | 1 |
| G. sp. | 12,13, ** |
| G. sp. | 14, ** |
| G. sp. | 15 |
| G. sp. | 16 |
| G. sp. | 17 |
Varieties of Guzmania sanguinea
The French botanist, landscape-architect and publicist Edouard André traveled in 1875-1876 in Colombia, Ecuador en Venezuela. His botanical interest was mainly concentrated on bromeliads and he collected more than 100 species of that plant family of which the majority proved to be new to science. They were described by him in 'Bromeliaceae Andreanae', published in 1889. Guzmania's, a genus named by Ruiz en Pavon in 1802, formed a large part of his collection; it has been mainly André who gave publicity to many species of Guzmania. Now these constitute an important component in the culture and trade of bromeliads. A beautiful species with colourful leaves described by André is Guzmania sanguinea; plants taken by him to Europe flowered there for the first time in 1883.
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The species-variety can grow as large as 80 cm in diameter. The colour of the leaves is a bit variable but mainly red (bloodred as suggested by the name of the plant) and yellow; it shows as flowering begins, the little yellow or white flowers are not so showy. After flowering the leafcolours are fading and a new shoot can emerge from the center of the rozet.
Guzmania sanguinea var. sanguinea grows as an epiphyte in the rainforest from sealevel to 1000 meter in Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, Tobago and Ecuador. There is a smaller variety known only from Ecuador, G. sanguinea brevipedicellata, the name relates to the short stems of the flowers; this species has often been named Guzmania butcheri, but that one is a species from Panama.
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In 'Bromeliaceae Andreanae' is also described a variety with the name erecta. This turned out later not to be
G. sanguinea, its true identity remains unclear although for a long time it was labeled as the variety comosa. The real Guzmania sanguinea var. comosa was found for the first time in 1944 and only named correctly in 1989. It is remarkable because it shows a tuft of hair or little red leaves (the name comosa relates to this) on a stem emerging from the center of the plant. It is an example of natural selection in nature as its purpose - as well as the colour of the leaves - is to attract the natural pollinator which is the hummingbird. This variety is only known from Colombia; it has been cultivated in the past on a limited scale but remains a rare appearance.
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