Bromelia

Bromelia is the type genus of the plant family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae.

Bromelia species are widespread across much of Latin America and the West Indies,[1] and are characterized by flowers with a deeply cleft calyx. The genus is named after the Swedish medical doctor and botanist Olof Bromelius (1639-1705).

The type species is B. karatas.

The resistant fiber obtained from B. serra and B. hieronymi, both known as chaguar, is an essential component of the economy of the Wichí tribe in the semi-arid Gran Chaco region of Argentina. An 1841 publication described the fiber of silk grass (Bromelia karata) as “equal in durability to our best bowstrings.”[2]