Pollination of Bromeliads flowers, catalogue of Bromeliad plants

A catalogue of Bromeliads used for various projects by - © Lloyd Godman

This is a catalogue of bromeliads used by Lloyd godman for his various installations and photosynthesis projects - the collection of pants he accessed in New Zealand from 1996 - 2004 was collected from a wide range of sources, while most were brought from Greens Bromeliads, some were also donated by the Dunedin Botanical Gardens. Later in 2004 these plants were either sold or given away with his move to Australia.

Lloyd is at present re-establishing his collection where he now lives in Melbourne.

Asexual reproduction of Bromeliads

	asexual: Sexless; without sex, such as in vegetative propagation. Nearly all Bromeliads produce offshoots or pups. Once they are about 1/3 the size of the parent plant they can be cut off and planted somewhere else. Once the parent plant or mother plant has flowered energy goes into either seed production, off shoots (know as pups) or both. If the flowers have been pollinated and the plant is in the process of producing seed it is likely to produce less pups. If however there was little or no p[pollination the plant is likely to produce a greater number of more vigorous pups. Over a period of time, that may even take a few years, the mother plant transfers all its energy to the new pups and slowly dies. As this process begins and continues the vibrant colour of the mother plant diminishes and the leaves slowly die. The plant become quite unattractive until the new pups grow to fill size an over take the mother plant.
	Some Bromeliad plants produce pups on long stalons which can easily be cut off.
	Other plants produce pups close to the mother which can become difficult to remove. With these plants it is best to leave them until the pup has nearly fully developed. Separating the pup too early can result in cutting the cortex and killing the pup.