Bromeliads are herbaceous Monocotyledons native to the Americas (with a single species known from West Africa) and related to the Sedges and Grasses. They have a distinctive rosette shape, with blade-like leaves spiraling out from a central point. In some cases the centre of this rosette forms a water reservoir held in place by tightly overlapping leaf-bases, which can contain entire miniature ecosystems. Many Bromeliads are epiphytes, living on the branches of trees, particularly in rainforests, but others live on the ground and many are found in deserts.
The genus Dyckia contains 188 recognised species of Bromeliads, making it one of the most specious genera within the group. The majority of these are found in arid areas of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Brazil, with about two thirds of all species being found in Brazil. Species of Dyckia tend to have spiny leaves and a succulent form, and often grow on thin soils or directly on rock. They also tend to be highly endemic, with most species having a limited geographical range, and several species known only from a single location.
In a paper published in the Nordic Journal of Botany on 17 October 2025, Henrique Mallmann Büneker and Jorge Ernesto de Araujo Mariath of the Laboratório de Anatomia Vegetal and Programa de Pós-graduação em Botânica at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, describe a new species of Dyckia from an escarpment beside the Rio dos Touros in the municipality if Bom Jesus in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil.
The new species is named Dyckia semperflorens, where 'semperflorens', means 'continuously flowering'; when the species was first observed in 2017 a live specimen was collected and brought to the Planeta Bromélia nursery in Porto Alegre, where it has remained in bloom ever since. Specimens of Dyckia semperflorens reach 65-96 cm in height, and have a rosette diameter of 38-65 cm. Leaves are 47-107 cm in length, with the inner leaves being semi-erect, while the outer ones are more relaxed, all have an elongate triangular shape with a waxy surface and sparse spines on the edges. Flowers are born on an erect or semi-erect peduncle, 20-36 cm in length. Flowers are tubular and greenish or reddish, flowers on the base of the peduncle are larger than those towards the tip.
Dyckia semperflorens is known from a single location, on a rocky escarpment along the banks of the Touros River, 1054 m above sealevel, in the municipality of Bom Jesus, Rio Grande do Sul State, in southern Brazil. The local environment is dominated by grassland, with patches of Araucaria forest. The climate here is temperate, with frost and snowfall in the winter.
The only known population of Dyckia semperflorens grows in an area currently under pressure from cattle grazing and frequent anthropogenic fires, which are used for grassland management in the region. However, there are other similar areas in the region which could potentially support the species, and which have not been explored yet, so Büneker and Mariath refrain from assigning a conservation status to the species at this time.
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