A Mexican form of ionantha with the same unique characteristics as the more familiar ‘Zebrina’; that of having even breaks in the trichomes, forming a decorative banded pattern. The ‘Zebrina’ looks to be a Guatemalan form of ionantha, differing only slightly from this form. The Mexican form differs mainly in blushing much brighter red at anthesis. We found this plant when splitting a group of Mexican ionanthas quite some years ago and have propagated them since. The name is inspired by the Zebra painted donkeys used by street photographers in Tijuana.

A rare caulescent species from Sumidero Canyon in Chiapas, Mexico, where it covers the canyon walls in some places, by the thousands. Tillandsia ionantha v. vanhyningii has short thick leaves on a 3 to 6 inch stem and blushes a peach color when in bloom and forms large cascading clusters. The plant grows with a long stem that forms many adventitious offsets which can be removed and grown or left to form a large cluster. Very easy to grow, bright and airy.