Bromeliad Cultivar Register (10264) 2010-09-16

*TILLANDSIA ‘Dr. Ropata’*	Flower A*	n/a
Wellington, New Zealand, First bloom date: May, 2008 General description: medium-sized plant 23-25cm diam., flowering 21 cm., inflorescence digitate, peduncle 10cm, spikes 6cm. long, 1 cm. wide. Stamens exserted. Plant introduced into New Zealand in a commercial shipment of plants labelled "Tillandsia oaxacana" from Tropimeyer, Guatemala in 2002. This lot turned out to be approx. 90% T. velickiana, 10% T. matudae and one 'Dr. Ropata' that I know of (approx. 50% of the shipment were sold unflowered). �Dr. Ropata� has a compound inflorescence and extended rachis not found in any of the other Guatemalan imports in this group. It seems reminiscent of T. matudae/velickiana in the leaf formation, spikes much closer to T. vicentina. Etymology - "Dr Ropata" was a character in a local medical soap-opera on TV - he was a rather self-important South American import, whose behaviour eventually drove the Head Nurse to exclaim the immortal (in NZ) line "you're not in Guatemala now, Dr Ropata" Reg Doc 9/2010
Seed Parent: ?	Pollen Parent: ?