2663
A hybrid of (ixioides x recurvifolia) by Mark Dimmitt. A wide spreading rosette to about 8 inches, with half inch wide, rather stiff and silvery-lepidote leaves. Much more closely resembles the ixioides parent, but has more leaves and rosy pink bracts with yellow flowers. An attractive plant.
8434
2128
A cross of two Mexican species: rothii x exserta. Taking on the characteristics of both parents, it is a handsome hybrid. The foliage is all exserta, long and gracefully arching, firm silvery leaves, much as that parent. The inflorescence is also strongly influences by exserta being very tall and thin, topped with a cluster of branches. It’s here that the rothii parent shows up. The branches are glabrous and tricolor from bottom to top; red, orange and yellow. Unusual and attractive.
3403
A hybrid of (mallemontii x duratii) by M. Patterson in Australia, it’s a pretty good combination of the two parents. Tillandsia duratii is a robust plant with a long stem and curling leaves, rootless in the adult form and producing a long, branched inflorescence with fragrant purple flowers. Tillandsia mallemontii is a plant with fine leaves, forming a tangled ball with many plants. The slender inflorescence is un-branched and produces a large, fragrant, purple flower.
The hybrid ‘Wonga’ looks more like a skinny duratii with many curly leaves and a long, branching inflorescence. The stunning thing though is that the flowers of both parents are very fragrant and those of ‘Wonga’ are not!
7429
A natural hybrid of (brachycaulos x flabellata) from Honduras with really nice lime green foliage and an inflorescence showing the influence of both parents, with short red branches. Can grow potted or mounted.
505
This plant was imported in the early 1980s from Guatemala and came in mixed with Tillandsia caput-medusae. When this plant flowered it was obvious to us that it was a hybrid and we consulted with Harry Luther who agreed that it was likely a caput-medusae x brachycaulos natural hybrid. Until 2013 we had been growing this plant under that name.
I recently submitted a photo of it to Derek Butcher and Geoffrey Lawn of the Hybrid Registry and Derek wrote me back saying “You have the original T. brachycaulos var multiflora see attached. However the botanists decided it was a natural hybrid which I maintain should be in alpha order because you do not know mother thus brachycaulos x caput-medusae. So we are in a quandary.
Under ICBN rules your plant has a ‘name’. I am suggesting we stretch the rules and under the ICNCP rules call your plant ‘Zacapa‘ linking it to the Lyman Smith variety and thus the Field herb specimen.” And so we are. This plant has grown much larger under cultivated conditions and maintains a nice coloration. A choice plant.
101
A very handsome species from Veracruz, Mexico where it lives in deciduous, tropical forest at low altitudes. Resembles a brachycaulos, but differs morphologically. Forming a 6 to 8 inch rosette of wide light green, glossy leaves, it flushes deep red all over when in bloom. No visible scape, many blue flowers. One of the most dramatic color changes in the bromeliad world. Easy grower, grow mounted or in a basket or other place where it can get good air circulation.
106
The inflorescence is an extended scape with pink bracts and deep inky-blue flowers. Forms large clusters of plants that will bloom simultaneously in its season.
6868
If you like Till. aeranthos, you’ll love the variety aemula! Like a giant-growing form of the species, it is a very handsome and hardy plant from Southern Brazil. Somewhat more caulescent than the typical form, it has purplish-tinted foliage on a stem up to 12 inches long. The inflorescence is well exerted, about 6 inches long, with deep rose-colored bracts and deep blue flowers. Forms large clumps eventually, and can be grown mounted or just hanging on a string.
9370
Love this unusually different plant.
108
A beauty that grows in long caulescent clusters, with wide, stiff, silvery-white leaves. The inflorescence is a simple thin red spike. Native to central Mexico. Can be cultivated in a basket, mounted or hanging from a wire or string. Likes bright light and good air circulation.
110
This plant is one of the rarest Tillandsias in Colombia and has always been in demand as a collector item. Shaped like a green sea urchin about three inches across, it produces a single vivid red flower, then offsets, forming a clump. An epiphyte in medium altitudes, it does well at sea level. Tillandsia andreana is another of the genuine collector items of the genus.
Today it is grown from seed, but in years gone by, was only rarely available outside of Colombia from where it was said to have been occasionally smuggled in the robes of a Jesuit Priest, and sold for quite high sums. This lovely little species is a golf ball sized tuft of yellow/green leaves that sports a giant, single red flower. Will form large clumps which bloom enmasse.