Book Review, Courtesy of Journel of Bromeliad Society56(3).2006

By Derek Butcher, Cultivar Registrar

 

Tillandsia del Norte de Chile y del Extremo Sur de Peru, Raquel Pinto, photographs by Arturo Kirberg, 2005,22cm,136 pages, soft cover, Spanish, I.S.B.N.956-299-730-8. Cost US. $50.00 plus postage US. $20.00. Contact Raquel Pinto, Dalmacia3251, Iquique, Chile or raquelpinto@vtr.net

 

If you are interested in seeing how Tillandsias can live under the harshest of conditions or seeing environments that nature sometimes provides, then this is the book for you. I come from the driest State ( South Australia ) in the driest Continent ( except Antarctica!) and thought I knew about dry conditions, but we do not get sea-mist! This was an eye-opener with fantastic photographs by Arturo Kirberg - over 200 of them! Fourteen maps and charts help you forget that it is written in Spanish. As can be expected, only nine species of Tillandsia survive in the area and all know how to fight for survival. Under Tillandsia usneoides I was surprised to find “ Petalos amarillos” ( yellow petals ) instead of ‘ Petalos verde “ ( green petals and I had discovered at least one place where the cultivar “ Spanish Gold” can be found. There are chapters on climate, associated fauna and flora, trichomes, and GPS references.

But what really epitomises plant survival is the photogragh on page 41…….

 

 

Does this leave you hanging???? The photo on page 41 is

unbelievable, a tillandsia lomas of Lomas Arrojadero, South of Peru surviving in the middle of the desert. All you see is sand for miles and miles……………..