Bromeliad Study Group of Balboa Park
A Special
Invitation
The Bromeliad Study Group of Balboa Park invites you to become a
member.
Don't miss the fun of growing these exotic plants and learning
more about them.
Meetings (Open to the public)
Second Tuesday of each month; 7:00 p.m.
Casa Del Prado, Botanical Library Room 104 Balboa Park, San Diego,
CA
Click for information or
(619)479-5500/(619)501-1047
Check out these links for Bromeliads.
Objectives of
the Bromeliad Study Group
·
To promote and maintain public and scientific interest in Bromeliads.
·
To present educational programs at each meeting, allotting time for
questions and answers.
·
To maintain a strong relationship and tie with the San Diego Zoo through
maintaining the Kent Bromeliad Garden within the Zoo.
·
To share information; thus our Library is
continually updated and is open at all meetings. Follow the library link to see
the many books available for members to check out. Members are encouraged to
bring in "sad" or unknown Bromeliads so the Group can help.
Bromeliads (American Jewels) are natives
of South and Central America. They are easy to cultivate, and are remarkably
versatile, forming one of the most adaptable plant families. Bromeliads do not
require much care, they are pretty much pest free and drought resistant, and
they do exceptionally well in southern California. Bromeliads can be grown
outdoors to enhance your patio or garden landscaping. These plants can also be
placed indoors to beautify your home.
As one of its ongoing activities, The
Bromeliad Study Group has maintained the Leonard Kent Bromeliad Garden at the
San Diego Zoo since 1981 in association with the zoo's Horticulture Department.
Volunteering on Saturdays in the garden or shadecloth house, we learn the
techniques of proper care and landscaping using bromeliads as well as
contribute to the community.
At our monthly meetings a plant
opportunity table is provided with a large variety of bromeliad species and
hybrids. This enables members and guests to begin or add to their collection at
minimum cost.
The Bromeliad family is a tropical group
of plants native to the New World, distributed from the southern United States
to southern Argentina and Chile. This group of extraordinary plants grows
mainly in trees in tropical rain forests and moist mountain forests, but some
species are also terrestrial (grow in the ground). Most people are familiar
with the edible bromeliad fruit, the pineapple, Ananas comosus, and the North
American native, Spanish Moss, Tillandsia usneoides.
Bromeliads are collected and cultivated as
greenhouse ornamental plants due to the fact that many species have a striking,
brilliantly colored inflorescence that rises from the center of the tank
rosette. After a long bloom period, an equally beautiful multiple fruit
develops. Many bromeliads die after the long flowering and fruiting stage, but
most give us many pups to start again.
The bromeliad family consists of about 50
genera and about 2000 species of different colored, shaped and sized plants.
Many are characterized as being epiphytic, meaning that they do not need to
derive nutrients from the soil and therefore live on tree branches, rotting
stumps, or cacti. This does not mean they are parasitic, but that they
manufacture their own food from water and air-borne particles and decaying
plant and animal life around them.
The
Pineapple (Ananas), best-known Bromeliad.
The three sub-families of Bromeliads
Bromelioideae
Pitcairnioideae
Tillandsioideae
Aechmea Fasciata variegated
Dycka fostoriana
Vriesea Foster's
Favorite
E-mail Lynn (forage4@yahoo.com)