THE BROMELIAD SOCIETY OF GREATER CHICAGO

THE BSGC NEWS

April, 2002

The next meeting is April 14th at the Chicago Botanic Garden at 2:00 pm in the NEW Classroom Building near the Lake-Cook Road entrance. We will raffle Bob Jay’s plants. We will also discuss the Navy Pier Flower Show and vote on the program cover for the 2004 World Bromeliad conference.

The McHenry County satellite group had its first meeting at the McHenry Public Library. The Northwest Herald did an article on the Bromeliad Society of Greater Chicago on Tuesday, March 12th. They had a picture of Wally Fox with some of his Tillandsias.

President’s Column

Navy Pier 2002, Thank You, Thank You! This was the Best year yet. We sold out by March 16th. We have never done this before. We had 20 members who volunteered. This never happend before. I think that we have Caught the 2004 Fever. The interest and enthusiam was Fantastic. All we need now are a few more Members like You!

Don’t Forget the Program Cover, Coffee Mug and Pin Design will be Judged on April 14th. Good Luck.

I’m sorry that I will not be there. The New Grandaugter wants to see her Grandparents. So off to California. I will see you all at the Next Meeting. Thanks Again for all the Hard Work and Enthusiasm. We have the 2004 Fever!

(Made You Look!! _)

The following article is from the Jan/Feb 2002, Southeastern Michigan Bromeliad Society’s newsletter by Penrith Goff.

Growing Points I

We’ve probably all peered into the center of a tank bromeliad at some point. If you haven’t yet, you should try it. You may have to dump out the water and perhaps even wash out debris. What you see at the bottom of the tank is the future plant: a rosette of tiny leaves which are smaller and smaller toward the center. The center itself, covered over by the tiniest leaves, is a mass of cells that are still actively dividing but have not yet become leaf cells. This is the growing point of the bromeliad, also called the meristem. These cells are undifferentiated, that is, they have not yet become either leaf cells or inflorescence cells, they could become either. As the cells of the growing point divide, the plant grows higher. Even though bromeliads grow much more slowly than most other plants, they can, over time, develop very lengthy stems. The oldest growth at the bottom of the stem continually dies off as the plant adds new leaves at the top.

When the plant is mature and conditions are right, the cells in the growing point will stop producing leaves: the vegetative phase is over. The cells now start forming a flowering stem or inflorescence. This means of course that the plant will grow no more leaves. (There are a few bromeliads whose vegetation stage is not terminated by flowering because their inflorescences arise from the leaf axils rather than from the central growing point.) Because the growing point has stopped producing leaves it has also stopped producing the growth regulating auxin which prevented the latent growth buds hidden in the leaf axils from growing. One or more of these will now start to grow. In this regard bromeliads vary widely. A few ordinarily produce no pups at all, some begin pupping even before the inflorescence appears, in others it may be weeks or months after blooming before pups appear. The number of pups also varies greatly. Many produce only one pup, others 5 or more. If pups are removed from the mother plant, more pups will soon appear, as long as the mother plant has a few good leaves left. The time required for the pup to mature also varies with genus and species. A few mature in less than a year, others may require several years.

If one wants to hasten the production of pups and is not particularly interested in having the bromeliad bloom , one can remove the inflorescence as soon as it is visible. Or, if the mature plant shows no sign of blooming and one wants to get pups going, one can destroy the growing point. But be careful! Violence done to the tender tissue at the center of the plant makes it highly vulnerable to rot which can quickly spread through the entire plant. Making sure that the center remains absolutely dry for several days after the operation is a minimal precaution.