Bromelia

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Bromelia karatas2.jpg |image_caption = ''Bromelia karatas'' |taxon = Bromelia |authority = L. |synonyms_ref = <ref name=s/> |synonyms = *''Karatas'' Mill. *''Pinguin'' Adans. *''Psedomelia'' Neck. *''Agallostachys'' Beer *''Distiacanthus'' Linden *''Deinacanthon'' Mez | type_species =''Bromelia karatas'' }}

'''''Bromelia''''' is a genus of about 70 plant species widespread across Latin America and the West Indies.<ref name=s>[https://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=222019 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]</ref> It is the type genus of the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae, and its type species is ''B. karatas''. ''Bromelia'' species are characterized by flowers with a deeply cleft calyx. The genus is named after the Swedish medical doctor and botanist {{ill|Olof Bromelius|sv|Olof Bromelius}} (1639-1705).

==Species== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Scientific name !! Distribution |- | || ''Bromelia agavifolia'' Brongniart ex Houllet || French Guiana |- |120px || ''Bromelia alsodes'' H. St. John || from Sinaloa south to Nicaragua |- | || ''Bromelia alta'' L.B. Smith || Guyana and Suriname |- |120px || ''Bromelia antiacantha'' Bertoloni || Brazil, Uruguay |- | || ''Bromelia araujoi'' P.J.Braun, Esteves & Scharf || Maranhão |- | || ''Bromelia arenaria'' Ule || Brazil (Bahia) |- | || ''Bromelia arubaiensis'' P.L. Ibisch & R. Vásquez || Bolivia |- | || ''Bromelia auriculata'' L.B. Smith || Ceará |- |120px || ''Bromelia balansae'' Mez || Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay |- | || ''Bromelia binotii'' E. Morren ex Mez || Brazil (Espírito Santo) |- | || ''Bromelia braunii'' Leme & E. Esteves || Tocantins |- | || ''Bromelia charlesii'' P.J.Braun, Esteves & Scharf || Brazil (Bahia) |- | || ''Bromelia chrysantha'' Jacquin || Venezuela, Colombia, Trinidad & Tobago |- | || ''Bromelia dilatata'' Esteves, Hofacker & Scharf || Mato Grosso |- | || ''Bromelia eitenorum'' L.B. Smith || Maranhão |- | || ''Bromelia epiphytica'' L.B. Smith || Brazil (Amazonas) |- | || ''Bromelia estevesii'' Leme || Brazil (Piauí) |- | || ''Bromelia exigua'' Mez || Brazil (Goiás) |- | || ''Bromelia flemingii'' I. Ramírez & Carnevali || Aragua of Venezuela |- | || ''Bromelia fosteriana'' L.B. Smith || Suriname |- | || ''Bromelia fragilis'' L.B. Smith || Colombia |- | || ''Bromelia glaziovii'' Mez || Brazil (Minas Gerais and Goiás) |- | || ''Bromelia goeldiana'' L.B. Smith || Venezuela and Brazil |- | || ''Bromelia goyazensis'' Mez || Brazil (Goiás) |- | || ''Bromelia grandiflora'' Mez || Brazil |- | || ''Bromelia granvillei'' L.B. Smith & Gouda || French Guiana |- | || ''Bromelia gurkeniana'' E. Pereira & Moutinho ||Brazil |- | || ''Bromelia hemisphaerica'' Lam. || from Guanajuato south to Panama |- |120px || ''Bromelia hieronymi'' Mez || Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina |- | || ''Bromelia horstii'' Rauh || Brazil (Mato Grosso) |- |120px || ''Bromelia humilis'' Jacquin || Venezuela, Trinidad & Tobago, Netherlands Antilles |- | || ''Bromelia ignaciana'' R. Vásquez & P.L. Ibisch || Bolivia |- |120px || ''Bromelia interior'' L.B. Smith || Brazil |- | || ''Bromelia irwinii'' L.B. Smith || Goiás |- |120px || ''Bromelia karatas'' Linnaeus || West Indies; Latin America from San Luis Potosí + Sinaloa south to Brazil |- |120px || ''Bromelia laciniosa'' Martius ex Schultes f. || Brazil and Argentina |- | || ''Bromelia lagopus'' Mez || Brazil |- | || ''Bromelia legrellae'' (E. Morren) Mez || Brazil (Pará) |- | || ''Bromelia lindevaldae'' Leme & E. Esteves || Brazil (Bahia) |- | || ''Bromelia macedoi'' L.B. Smith || Brazil (Goiás) |- | || ''Bromelia michaelii'' Esteves, Hofacker & Scharf || Brazil (Goiás) |- | || ''Bromelia minima'' Leme & E. Esteves || Brazil (Goiás) |- | || ''Bromelia morreniana'' (Regel) Mez || northern Brazil |- | || ''Bromelia nidus-puellae'' (André) André ex Mez || Colombia |- | || ''Bromelia oliveirae'' L.B. Smith || Brazil (Pará) |- | || ''Bromelia palmeri'' Mez || from Colima south to Oaxaca |- |120px || ''Bromelia pinguin'' Linnaeus || West Indies; from Mexico to Ecuador and Suriname; naturalized in Florida |- | || ''Bromelia poeppigii'' Mez || Peru |- | || ''Bromelia redoutei'' (Baker) L.B. Smith || Guatemala. |- | || ''Bromelia regnellii'' Mez || Brazil |- | || ''Bromelia reversacantha'' Mez || Brazil (Goiás) |- | || ''Bromelia rondoniana'' L.B. Smith || Rondônia |- | || ''Bromelia scarlatina'' (hortus ex Hérincq) E. Morren || Ecuador and Brazil |- |120px || ''Bromelia serra'' Grisebach || Brazil, French Guiana, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina |- | || ''Bromelia superba'' Mez || Jamaica |- |120px || ''Bromelia sylvicola'' S. Moore || Brazil (Mato Grosso) |- | || ''Bromelia tarapotina'' Ule || Peru |- | || ''Bromelia trianae'' Mez || Colombia |- | || ''Bromelia tubulosa'' L.B. Smith || Venezuela and Brazil |- |120px || ''Bromelia unaensis'' Leme & Scharf || Brazil (Bahia) |- | || ''Bromelia urbaniana'' (Mez) L.B.Sm. || Paraguay and Argentina |- | || ''Bromelia villosa'' Mez || Bolivia and 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 tribe in the semi-arid Gran Chaco region of Argentina. An 1841 publication described the fiber of silk grass (''Bromelia karata'') as "equal in durability to our best bowstrings."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryf00cricgoog|title=The Natural History of the Fishes of Guiana|author=Sir Robert Hermann Schomburgk|author2=Sir William Jardine|author3=Andrew Crichton|publisher=W. H. Lizars|date=1841|page=[https://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryf00cricgoog/page/n112 102]}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Commons category-inline|Bromelia|''Bromelia''}} *{{Wikispecies-inline|Bromelia|''Bromelia''}} * [http://fcbs.org/pictures/Bromelia.htm List of Species at FCBS] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20181003220909/http://www.bsi.org/brom_info/gallery/Bromelia/ BSI Genera Gallery] photos

Category:Bromelia Category:Bromeliaceae genera