Botanist’s continue to study and reevaluate certain genus, and one of the latest changes happened while no one was looking – don’t despair, every ones fav bromeliad Abromeitella is now reclassified as Deuterocohinia – gasp.
I wouldn’t let this keep you up at night, it will take years for even serious collectors to rename their plants, to make new plant labels, to learn how to even pronounce Deuterocohinia, and most importantly, for the plant catalogs and nurseries from which one finds these more unusual yet fabulous house plants, to change their plant descriptions. Often by then, the name changes again anyway. For now, most people are still calling this plant Abromeitella.
This tiny, symetrical bromeliad is highly cherished in collections of many cacti and succulent growers, who appreciate symmetry and the over-all form of their plants. Once classified into the sub-Family Pitcairnioideae (pit-cairn-ee-oy’dee-ee) , this is one long-lived relative of the pineapple family, and it gets better with age, forming a nice, tight mound, or bun shape that looks very much like a rock or a mound of moss.
If you are looking for an easy-to-grow house plant that has excellent geometry and form, then I highly recommend searching out a young plant of Abromeitella. There are four species that have this tight growth pattern, all are wonderful and rarely seen ( which also means that they are not common, and not very easy to find). Like any plant, I suggest one begin with a Google search, or, find a friend with a plant who will share a ‘pup’ with you. These are easy to propagate from cuttings.
My three plants are still young, only three and four years old from young plants and cuttings, but I have a friend ( Art Scarpa) who has some very large and impressive specimens which win ribbons often at the larger plant shows ( like Philadelphia Flower Show and the New England Spring Flower Show), we call them his ‘green sheep’.
That was quite spectacular!
Now, I want one!
Really enjoyed your blog…
This is so cool! I'm somewhat new to bromeliads but the more I learn the more I like. Especially with such a diminutive specimen like this. Wish list!