This plant is an apparent natural hybrid but we are reasonably certain that it is a cross of (riohondoensis x ionantha) that came in with a shipment of the former from Guatemala some years ago. We have been propagating it ever since. The plant has many narrow, velvety leaves in an upright vase shaped rosette. It can grow to over ten inches tall and wide with leaves about a half inch wide tapering to a point. The inflorescence is a capitate head of very tight branches on a short scape bearing long leaf-like bracts. The bracts blush pink at anthesis along with the upper whorl of leaves.

Overall the plant is silvery with a heavy coating of trichomes. The leaves are soft and graceful. We are naming this plant in honor of our dear friend Ruby Ryde of Australia. An avid bromeliad collector of many years with her late husband Keith and who has for years faithfully sent us a beautiful calendar of Australian nature each December. She is our ‘Calendar Girl’ and we are proud to have her as our friend!

This hybrid of (leonamiana x ixioides) is pretty much what you’d expect of this cross. An open rosette of narrow, arching, stiff leaves of silvery gray and an inflorescence that is tall and slender with a few short branches at the top, silver dusted orange bracts and yellow flowers. Easy, prolific and showy.

Bill Timm’s hybrid of (‘Tiki Torch’ x ‘Druid‘). An upright rosette with stiff, narrow leaves on a caulescent stem to about 6 inches long. The leaves are silvery with a slight blush of red at anthesis. (Red in spite of its yellow ‘Druid’ parent) The flowers are two toned, blue and white with red sepals. A nice plant.

Bill Timm’s hybrid of Tillandsia ionantha ‘Druid’ x ionantha v. vanhyningii, looks pretty much like a large vanhyningii. If this plant had turned out with a yellow blush instead of red, more like the ‘Druid’ parent, then this would have been a show stopper. But alas it isn’t yellow, but it is still a very nice, compact and colorful plant as you can see by the photo. 

An early hybrid (1960’s) by Charles Wiley is a cultivar of (seleriana x bulbosa). The cross was made in Eastern Germany and is a relic of the Cold War era. Aside from this, the plant is a handsome combination of both parents. More bulbosa-like it is however stouter with more leaves and has a slight scurff unlike the bulbosa parent. The inflorescence is a short rachis with red branches and a corresponding blush in the upper leaves at anthesis. 

A handsome, fairly large growing hybrid by Bill Timm is an unusual cross of (capitata domingensis x dasyliriifolia). The plants are leafy, with fairly narrow leaves tapering from about .75 of an inch to a slender point. The color is reddish, and becomes deeper colored in strong light.

The inflorescence is very tall with many branches held upright to the rachis, deep burgundy red with red bracts. Produces many offsets. Quite showy.

This plant is from Bak nurseries in Holland but it does not, apparently, have a registered name. Too bad because it is a beauty. A fairly large size grower to about a foot tall with a 20 inch spread of channeled, silvery leaves tapering from about a half inch wide to a slender tip. Very graceful in aspect with a soft, velvety quality but sturdy nonetheless. The inflorescence is a branched scape just longer than the leaves, erect with four or five branches held upright in a cluster. The color is greenish yellow to orange-red, depending somewhat on the light, the brighter the more colorful in most cases. Easy to grow under typical Tillandsia conditions, offsets well after blooming.