New bromeliad species discovered at Rio's Botanical Garden

Specialists at Rio de Janeiro’s Botanical Garden have come across a rare species of bromeliad in its grounds. They named it Wittmackia aurantiolilacina, due to the orange and lilac colors of its inflorescence. The species was described by researcher Bruno Rezende – one of the authors of the study and curator of the scientific bromeliad collection at Rio’s Botanical Garden – in an article published on November 19 this year in the journal Phytotaxa, considered the world’s leading scientific journal in the field of botanical taxonomy. Notícias relacionadas: Nonprofit mobilizes private sector to conserve Atlantic forest. Illegal activities have expanded deforestation in the Atlantic forest. The species is endemic to the Atlantic forest biome and was collected in the Alto Cariri National Park, in Bahia state. It was collected in August 2023 by a team from the Botanical Garden on an expedition for an environment preservation initiative. “It was collected in August 2023, but it had no flower