Bromelia balansae

Botanical Description

Bromelia balansae is a stemless, evergreen, perennial plant growing up to 2 metres tall when in flower and producing a rosette of spreading leaves up to 1 metre long[ 331 Title Flora of Guatemala Publication Author Standley P.C. & J. A. Steyermark Website http://www.archive.org/ Publisher Year 1946 - 1976 ISBN Description A superb reference, though somewhat dated. Gives lots of plant uses as well as information on plant habit and habitat. The entire flora (13 volumes) can now be downloaded from http://www.archive.org/ ].It often produces dense colonies, spreading by means of underground stolons[ 200 Title The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. Publication Author Huxley. A. Publisher MacMillan Press Year 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5 Description Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed. ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for its fibre, which is mainly used locally. There is no doubt that with proper machinery the preparation of this fibre might become a commercial industry in the countries where grown, especially Argentina[ 454 Title Useful Fiber Plants of the World Publication Author Dodge C.R. Website http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ Publisher USDA; Washington. Year 1897 ISBN Description A rather dated, but very comprehensive catalogue of fibre plants from around the world. The book can be downloaded from the Internet. ].