THIS PLANT IS ON C.I.T.E.S. AND CANNOT BE EXPORTED

A Guatemalan species to about 8 x 10 inches with lovely thick silvery leaves, a bright red, cylindrical, simple spike and purple flowers. Nice for mounting. Considered an endangered species, is rather rare in nature, but very commonly cultivated. Especially easy to grow, a confidence builder for beginners.

A saxicolous species from Peru’s desert valleys. Like a small, caulescent, silver tectorum, with inch long leaves. Grow dry and bright.

Formerly Vriesea hitchcockiana, now classified as Tillandsia,  hitchcockiana has narrow, stiff leaves in a graceful rosette.  The inflorescence is pink, branched and very tall, with lavender flowers.  Native from Ecuador to Peru, it is a saxicole or epiphyte in nature.  It bears certain similarity to Vr. cereicola but lacks the stoloniferous habit of that species.

Tillandsia hitchcockiana and Vriesea cereicola are two species of gray leaved Vrieseas that are superficially similar. Both have stiff leaves and grow in a more or less tight, upright rosette. Their inflorescences, an overall pink, can be simple or branched. Some basic differences are this; hitchcockiana is a dark brownish gray and does not have stolons, cereicola is silver and is quite stoloniferous. Both are epiphytic or saxicolous, cereicola is fond of growing on cacti, hence the name.

A cliff dwelling species from the high badlands of Honduras grows in a somewhat caulescent rosette with wide silvery leaves that blush pinkish when in bloom. The inflorescence is capitate on a short scape of peach colored bracts and lavender flowers. The range of this rarity from central Honduras is restricted to a few isolated limestone cliffs. The natural population has been decimated by forest fires but fortunately it is easily propagated and now grown in fairly large numbers.

Prior description:

This ‘green form’ of Tillandsia edithae isn’t really green. It’s a form with more adpressed trichomes, giving the plant a more glabrous, less fuzzy, silvery appearance. In fact, in the summer here in Florida, the ‘silver form’ tends to get a bit of algae on the trichomes from the high humidity, giving it an actual green appearance.

Anyway, the ‘green form’ is different enough to warrant a cultivar name to distinguish it from the more typical, silver form. Other than that, the bloom and all aspects of growth are about the same, the leaves are perhaps a bit stiffer and a bit more compact but nearly the same as the silver form. Both are beautiful caulescent plants with short, broadly triangular, silvery-gray leaves and a stunning red-flowered inflorescence.

Native of Bolivia, they live a lithophytic existence on sheer rock cliffs, hanging in massive cascades. Care-free to grow, when mounted in a pendant fashion, they freely produce offsets along the old portions of their stems, soon forming large attractive clusters.

Note that in the second photo, both forms are there for comparison, even though it is hard to tell the apart in the photo. In life it is much easier!

*Recently (May 2024) renamed to T. iglari

Peter Tristram from Australia examined formerly, T. edithae 'Green Clone', and determines the genetic sequencing if different from the other species edithae. Thus naming this variety its own species, Tillandsia iglari.

A large growing select clone of this species from Andy Siekkinen.  A large grower to 40 inches overall, with an upright habit. Tall, graceful leaves and a tall red-orange scape with long, narrow yellow branches. Quite the impressive specimen from Hidalgo, Mexico.

Rarely offered

A large growing cultivar from Andy Siekkinen.

A unique yellow-blushing clone of Tillandsia ionantha with white flowers. When in bloom, the whole top of the plant turns a bright golden yellow instead of red. A beautiful sight! Found amongst plants imported from Veracruz, Mexico by Drew Schulz and later named ‘Druid’ by her husband in her honor, adding a twist of mystery as well.

Easy to grow as the ‘normal’ form and thus far, completely stable.