[Taxacom] Just one species of Bromeliales in Africa

[Geoff Read]

"Anyway, I've been thinking more about the reasons Pitcairnia feliciana
might not have dispersed further into Africa."

Not sure what Ken means by that (is he still wrongly thinking this plant
is coastal as he stated initially? Viz. "This species is apparently only
found on cliffs and rocks near the coast") but I will helpfully quote
another Givnish et al pub:

"P. feliciana is ENDEMIC  to sandstone outcrops on the tepuis-like Gangan
and other table mountains of the Fouta Djalon massif in Guinea (Porembski
and Barthlott 1999), to the northwest of Maschalocephalus?s range.
Pitcairnia feliciana occurs in areas remote from the coast and areas of
trade or, indeed, much human activity, so there is little doubt that it
(and Maschalocephalus) arrived in Africa by
nonhuman means (Porembski and Barthlott 1999)."

Int. J. Plant Sci. 165(4 Suppl.):S35?S54. 2004

On the pollination issue they say: "appears specialized
for avian pollination. While it left hummingbirds behind in South America,
there are several species of nectivorous sunbirds in the area that may
have substituted for them (Porembski and Barthlott 1999)."

Wikipedia says "It can be found growing on steep rocks and cliffs in
Equatorial Guinea", but that's the wrong 'Guinea'. Actually it is found in
Republic of Guinea, much further North and West (& a lesser distance to
its relatives in S. America).

Geoff

On Mon, October 17, 2011 2:54 pm, Kenneth Kinman wrote:

> ??????Getting back to Pitcairnia feliciana, it supposedly
> dispersed to Africa about 9-12 million years (far more recently than the
>
> damselfly genera mentioned above). And yes, that is based on sequences,
> but bromeliads have such a poor fossil record, molecular data is by far
> our best source of information (even if the dates can only be rough
> estimates). ? ? ?
> ??????Anyway, I've been thinking more about the reasons
> Pitcairnia feliciana might not have dispersed further into Africa. Could
>
> the difficulty be the absence of its primary pollinator (especially if
> that had been a hummingbird, and no hummingbirds in Africa)?  Or was it
> just a matter of lack of suitable physical habitats?
> ????????????????-------------Ken Kinman