''Bromelia'' is a genus of about 70 plant species widespread across Latin America and the West Indies.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> It is the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nominal ...

of the family

Bromeliaceae The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...

, subfamily

Bromelioideae Bromelioideae is a subfamily of the bromeliads (Bromeliaceae). This subfamily is the most diverse, represented by the greatest number of genera with about 40. Most of the plants in this group are epiphytes, though some have evolved in, or will ada ...

, and its type species is '' B. karatas''. ''Bromelia'' species are characterized by flowers with a deeply cleft

calyx Calyx or calyce (plural "calyces"), from the Latin ''calix'' which itself comes from the Ancient Greek ''κάλυξ'' (''kálux'') meaning "husk" or "pod", may refer to: Biology * Calyx (anatomy), collective name for several cup-like structures ...

. The genus is named after the Swedish medical doctor and botanist (1639-1705).

Species

* '' Bromelia agavifolia'' Brongniart ex Houllet - French Guiana * '' Bromelia alsodes'' H. St. John - from Sinaloa south to Nicaragua * ''

Bromelia alta ''Bromelia'' is a genus of about 70 plant species widespread across Latin America and the West Indies. It is the type genus of the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae, and its type species is '' B. karatas''. ''Bromelia'' species are ...

'' L.B. Smith - Guyana and Suriname * '' Bromelia antiacantha'' Bertoloni - Brazil, Uruguay * '' Bromelia araujoi'' P.J.Braun, Esteves & Scharf - Maranhão * '' Bromelia arenaria'' Ule - Bahia * ''

Bromelia arubaiensis ''Bromelia'' is a genus of about 70 plant species widespread across Latin America and the West Indies. It is the type genus of the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae, and its type species is '' B. karatas''. ''Bromelia'' species are ...

'' P.L. Ibisch & R. Vásquez - Bolivia * '' Bromelia auriculata'' L.B. Smith - Ceará * '' Bromelia balansae'' Mez - Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay * '' Bromelia binotii'' E. Morren ex Mez - Espírito Santo * '' Bromelia braunii'' Leme & E. Esteves - Tocantins * '' Bromelia charlesii'' P.J.Braun, Esteves & Scharf - Bahia * '' Bromelia chrysantha'' Jacquin - Venezuela, Colombia, Trinidad & Tobago * '' Bromelia dilatata'' Esteves, Hofacker & Scharf - Mato Grosso * ''

Bromelia eitenorum ''Bromelia'' is a genus of about 70 plant species widespread across Latin America and the West Indies. It is the type genus of the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae, and its type species is '' B. karatas''. ''Bromelia'' species are ...

'' L.B. Smith - Maranhão * ''

Bromelia epiphytica ''Bromelia'' is a genus of about 70 plant species widespread across Latin America and the West Indies. It is the type genus of the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae, and its type species is '' B. karatas''. ''Bromelia'' species are ch ...

'' L.B. Smith - Amazonas of Brazil * ''

Bromelia estevesii ''Bromelia'' is a genus of about 70 plant species widespread across Latin America and the West Indies. It is the type genus of the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae, and its type species is '' B. karatas''. ''Bromelia'' species are ...

'' Leme - Piauí * ''

Bromelia exigua ''Bromelia'' is a genus of about 70 plant species widespread across Latin America and the West Indies. It is the type genus of the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae, and its type species is '' B. karatas''. ''Bromelia'' species are ...

'' Mez - Goiás * ''

Bromelia flemingii ''Bromelia'' is a genus of about 70 plant species widespread across Latin America and the West Indies. It is the type genus of the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae, and its type species is '' B. karatas''. ''Bromelia'' species are ...

'' I. Ramírez & Carnevali - Aragua of Veenzuela * ''

Bromelia fosteriana ''Bromelia'' is a genus of about 70 plant species widespread across Latin America and the West Indies. It is the type genus of the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae, and its type species is '' B. karatas''. ''Bromelia'' species are ...

'' L.B. Smith - Suriname * '' Bromelia fragilis'' L.B. Smith - Colombia * '' Bromelia glaziovii'' Mez - Minas Gerais and Goiás * '' Bromelia goeldiana'' L.B. Smith - Venezuela and Brazil * '' Bromelia goyazensis'' Mez - Goiás * '' Bromelia grandiflora'' Mez - Brazil * '' Bromelia granvillei'' L.B. Smith & Gouda - French Guiana * '' Bromelia gurkeniana'' E. Pereira & Moutinho ** var. ''funchiana'' E. Pereira & Leme -Bahia ** var. ''gurkeniana'' - Pará * '' Bromelia hemisphaerica'' Lam. - from Guanajuato south to Panama * '' Bromelia hieronymi'' Mez - Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina * '' Bromelia horstii'' Rauh - Mato Grosso * '' Bromelia humilis'' Jacquin - Venezuela, Trinidad & Tobago, Netherlands Antilles * '' Bromelia ignaciana'' R. Vásquez & P.L. Ibisch - Bolivia * '' Bromelia interior'' L.B. Smith - Brazil * '' Bromelia irwinii'' L.B. Smith - Goiás * ''

Bromelia karatas ''Bromelia karatas'' is a plant species in the genus ''Bromelia''. This species is native to West Indies and to Latin America from San Luis Potosí + Sinaloa south to Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Bra ...

'' Linnaeus - West Indies; Latin America from San Luis Potosí + Sinaloa south to Brazil * '' Bromelia laciniosa'' Martius ex Schultes f. - Brazil + Argentina * '' Bromelia lagopus'' Mez - Brazil * '' Bromelia legrellae'' (E. Morren) Mez - Pará * '' Bromelia lindevaldae'' Leme & E. Esteves - Bahia * '' Bromelia macedoi'' L.B. Smith - Goiás * '' Bromelia michaelii'' Esteves, Hofacker & Scharf - Goiás * '' Bromelia minima'' Leme & E. Esteves - Goiás * '' Bromelia morreniana'' (Regel) Mez - northern Brazil * '' Bromelia nidus-puellae'' (André) André ex Mez - Colombia * '' Bromelia oliveirae'' L.B. Smith - Pará * '' Bromelia palmeri'' Mez - from Colima south to Oaxaca * '' Bromelia pinguin'' Linnaeus - West Indies; from Mexico to Ecuador and Suriname; naturalized in Florida * '' Bromelia poeppigii'' Mez - Peru * '' Bromelia redoutei'' (Baker) L.B. Smith - described 1889; origin unknown; probably extinct * ''

Bromelia regnellii ''Bromelia regnellii'' is a plant species in the genus ''Bromelia ''Bromelia'' is a genus of about 70 plant species widespread across Latin America and the West Indies. It is the type genus of the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioidea ...

'' Mez - Brazil * '' Bromelia reversacantha'' Mez - Goiás * '' Bromelia rondoniana'' L.B. Smith - Rondônia * '' Bromelia scarlatina'' (hortus ex Hérincq) E. Morren - Ecuador + Brazil * '' Bromelia serra'' Grisebach - Brazil, French Guiana, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina * '' Bromelia superba'' Mez - Jamaica * '' Bromelia sylvicola'' S. Moore - Mato Grosso * '' Bromelia tarapotina'' Ule - Peru * '' Bromelia trianae'' Mez - Colombia * '' Bromelia tubulosa'' L.B. Smith - Venezuela + Brazil * '' Bromelia unaensis'' Leme & Scharf - Bahia * '' Bromelia urbaniana'' (Mez) L.B.Sm. - Paraguay + Argentina * '' Bromelia villosa'' Mez - Bolivia + Brazil

Cultivation and uses

The resistant fiber obtained from ''B. serra'' and ''B. hieronymi'', both known as chaguar, is an essential component of the economy of the

Wichí The Wichí are an indigenous people of South America. They are a large group of tribes ranging about the headwaters of the Bermejo River and the Pilcomayo River, in Argentina and Bolivia. Notes on designation This ethnic group was named by the ...

tribe in the semi-arid

Gran Chaco The Gran Chaco or Dry Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semiarid lowland natural region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, western Paraguay, northern Argentina, and a portion of the Brazilian states of Mato Gros ...

region of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. An 1841 publication described the fiber of silk grass ('' Bromelia karata'') as "equal in durability to our best bowstrings."

References

External links

List of Species at FCBS

BSI Genera Gallery
photos Bromeliaceae genera {{Bromelioideae-stub