Tillandsia didisticha 'Large Form'
7766
Tillandsia diguetii
867
A rarely seen small grower from central coastal Mexico. Resembling a seedling of Til. streptophylla with its bulbous base and strap-like curly leaves, it differs from the later in lacking a scape. Please note: in cultivation this species tends to have a smaller base and narrower, less curled leaves.
Perhaps growing ‘harder’ would bring back the wild look. The flowers are formed on a short compound inflorescence. An unusual and desirable collectible.
Tillandsia dura 'Giant'
170
Tillandsia duratii v. saxatilis
7395
Tillandsia duratii x stricta
2738
A real oddity. Showing characteristics of both parents, the influence of duratii is obviously stronger. A caulescent plant, with narrow, succulent silvery leaves like duratii, but leafier and more of a rosette shape like stricta.
Tillandsia edithae Silver Form
173
A beautiful caulescent plant with short, broadly triangular, silvery-gray leaves and a stunning red-flowered inflorescence. A native of Bolivia where it lives a lithophytic existence on sheer rock cliffs, hanging in massive cascades. Care-free to grow, when mounted in a pendant fashion it freely produces offsets along its old stem, soon forming large attractive clusters.
Our stock came from a collection we made in 1993 in Bolivia. The excitement still lingers when I think of my fist encounter with the species in the wild. We had been traveling the rugged canyons that lay between ridge after ridge of the Cordillera de los Andes on Bolivia’s rugged and desolate eastern frontier.
On our satellite maps the terrain appeared to have been clawed by a giant jaguar, leaving parallel grooves hundreds of miles long etched deeply into the altiplano. We were weary from several weeks travel having seldom enjoyed a bed or hot meal. It remains a mystery why in such a relatively rich habitat for Tillandsias such as this, that one can travel for many miles and endless hours and not see a single plant! But on this dusty day our luck changed.
In a deep gorge where the escarpment walls seemed to rise and close in, causing dark shadows across the valley floor, we came into an incredible sight. Our first hint was an isolated cliff, across a muddy stream, that had a small colony of a caulescent Tillandsia. Crossing the stream, a break in the monotony of the day, I carried collecting pole and camera towards the cliff. Distance deceives among the stone monoliths of these haunting canyons and as the ‘bushes’ at the cliff base became large trees at my approach, so also did the Tillandsias disappear into the forest canopy.
Reaching the base of the cliff, I couldn’t even see the plants that lured me in the first place, as they were easily over a hundred feet overhead obscured by the canopy of the forest. However, with adrenaline coursing as it does when victory or discovery is in the wind, we drove onward to our reward. Not over a mile further on, the cliffs, which towered hundreds of feet tall, were covered with Tillandsias as far as the eye could see. Approaching this time we discovered that our long awaited prize was Tillandsia edithae!
Buy one now and save the bone-jarring, dust-eating, dangerous trip to Bolivia’s eastern desert.
Tillandsia ehlersiana
174
A lithophytic jewel from the southern Mexican state of Chiapas is a very desirable and unusual species. A medium sized plant that may grow to a foot tall or so, and obtain the girth of a tennis ball, but much larger specimens are sometimes seen in collections. The leaves are terete and mostly erect, often contorted and are covered with a silvery scurf. The inflorescence is an erect, stout, branched pinkish spike. Very easy to cultivate mounted or potted in light media. There is some considerable discussion that this is actually a natural hybrid, but that has no bearing on the fact that it is an outstanding plant.
You advertised an extra large plant, that's why I bought it. It was not. I have bought the same plant from you four times in the past and this last one I got is more like a medium.
Tillandsia elizabethae
175
A fairly rare plant in cultivation is a denizen of inland forests in the northern Mexican states of Sinaloa and Sonora. This plant is hummingbird pollinated and has a branched pink scape with tubular flowers. The plant is about 6 inches tall with somewhat stiff, silvery leaves in an upright rosette.
Tillandsia espinosae Large Form
364
This is the same plant in every way as the regular form of the species, except much, much larger. Reaching up to 12 inches in diameter, with stolons of 6 to 8 inches, it is an impressive plant. The many leaves are silvery, with an 8 inch bright red spike with blue flowers. This rare form is restricted to the north central Pacific coast of Ecuador. Grow mounted, bright as with most Tillandsias. Please note that this species was described as and was considered a Vriesea until the recent DNA studies prompted a realignment to the genus Tillandsia.
Tillandsia exserta
177
Tillandsia exserta features a unique and slender shape, with white, arching leaves and a red inflorescence with violet flowers. This species grows in the drier, hotter conditions of Mexico. A unique species of Tillandsia.
Tillandsia fasciculata 'Multispike'
8422
A superior version of the typical T. fasciculata with stiff greenish gray leaves in an upright rosette and a multi-branched spike of red, yellow and orange. Very nice!
Tillandsia fasciculata 'Pink and Green'
1980
This is an unidentified species that is at least similar to fasciculata and with a ‘Pink & Green’ inflorescence. We have had this for many years and in the interim have lost the locality data for it. We believe that this was originally from Mexico, but may be mistaken. Too bad, because this data is important when trying to identify plants. At any rate, this is a nice and colorful, fairly large-growing Tillandsia worthy of space in your collection!