Pitcairnia feliciana
- 1 min read
- 3 chapters
Related on Lably
Through Endemism, Americas and Continental drift
Etymology
Its specific epithet feliciana commemorates Henri Jacques-Félix (1907–2008), the French botanist who first collected it. In 1937, he discovered the plants growing on the steep rocks of Mount Gangan, near Kindia, in the former French Guinea.
Sign in to keep reading
2 more chapters are free with a Lably account.
Description
It has bright orange-red, scentless flowers with abundant nectar, which is a pollination syndrome typical of bird-pollinated bromeliads, although no actual sightings of birds pollinating this species have been recorded yet.
Evolution
The divergence between this species and its closest relative in the genus Pitcairnia occurred around 10 million years ago. Therefore, the disjunct distribution of this genus cannot be a relict from before continental drift separated Africa from the Americas, as this separation occurred much earlier. The ancestor of P. feliciana probably traversed the Atlantic Ocean as seeds dispersed by migrating birds.