Little rosettes form on six inch stolons, spreading out horizontally, eventually forming a large cluster. Depending upon light and fertilizer levels, the plants will be reddish-green to bright red. Less fertilizer and more light brings out maximum color.

This miniature species has never been properly classified but remains an extremely popular plant. Outstanding in hanging baskets, in landscape and in terrariums.

A large growing beauty by Stephen Hoppin can grow to a 24 inch rosette. The color is black to dark chocolate brown, glossy with wavy, silvery cross bands. Some silver shading in the leaves. Leaf tips turn downward.

This early Skotak hybrid is a cultivar of ‘Fireball’ x ?. Unreported parentage. A small beauty almost the same size and shape of the ‘Fireball’ parent, with the same stoloniferous habit. A nicely variegated plant with reddish leaves in good light and light white to pinkish variegation. The variegation is in the form of multiple thin stripes or lineations up the center of each leaf. It is a great plant for hanging baskets, for mounting and for use in terrariums.

Leaves that are blacker than black (for a plant). A graceful rosette that starts out upright then as the inch wide leaves lengthen, arch over, forming a wide rosette. The inflorescence is a handsome pendant spike of red berries and blue flowers.

This is a spectacular, large-growing species, descended from plants grown from seed collected by Wally Berg on Pico do Fernando, Bahia, Brazil. The plants have hundreds of narrow, strap-like, spiny leaves at maturity, recurving downward to form a graceful ball-like shape. Encholirium species grow much like the genus Dyckia, enjoying water in the growing season and a rest in cooler weather.

Can grow in filtered light or full sun. This species is monocarpic or occasionally making one or two offsets. The bloom spike can reach 4 feet in height and branches out, the flowers are large for bromeliads, with green bracts and petals filled with a pungent, sticky fluid, possibly to attract pollinators; bats have been seen pollinating this plant.

A colorful small growing hybrid from Australian hybridizer Grace Goode is a cross where the seed parent was Neo. ‘Maid of Honor’ but the pollen parent is unknown. A bulbous flat topped rosette shape that is red in color with yellow/green banding. Anthesis color is red.

A deep red clone of this beautiful sun tolerant species. Medium sized, to about 20 inches when grown hard, but can get quite large if fed. A very stiff leaved plant in an upright funnelform rosette. Deep rusty red with silvery crossbanding, it is native to the sun-baked sandy coastal plain of Brazil’s Maca region in Rio de Janeiro state, it is rare in cultivation.

A legendary plant. When you look up ‘rare’ in the dictionary, you should see a picture of tayoensis. This plant has only been collected a few times in nature, in Ecuador and Peru. Most, if not all plants in cultivation came from these two collections. The most well know plant was Wally Berg’s which won the ‘Best in Show’ award at the Bromeliad World Conference in Orlando in 1996. At that same show, another plant was donated by the Marie Selby Botanical Garden and was auctioned off for $1,200.00 to a buyer from the Philippines. The plant is a large grower, to over 4 feet in diameter. The leaves are petiolate with a narrow spiny petiole and a broad, spineless leaf. The plants are green, tinted orange-red. The inflorescence is a spiny head of many recurving, orange-red bracts and yellow flowers and can last for a year or more. Grow warm and moist (not wet) in shade to bright shade.

A giant grower from hybridizer David Fell in Hawaii. This plant is registered as an xVriecantarea but David lists it’s parents as (‘Volcano’s Mist’ x ‘Volcano’s Mist’) and ‘Volcano’s Mist’ is an Alcantarea. So, we are confused, where does the Vriesea come in? We are keeping the xVrecantarea name though as that is how the plant was registered with the BSI Cultivar Registrar. It looks like a nice clone of Alcantarea imperialis with a leafy rosette of broad leaves, red with a veneer of silver in older plants. Highly decorative, it is popular with landscapers.

A cross of two colorful, stoloniferous miniatures. Forming somewhat upright, bulbous based rosettes to for inches or so on stolons 3 to 4 inches long. The color can range from bronzy with tiny pepper spots and some barring of red to solid reddish with the spots nearly obscured. Good for mounting, hanging pots or terrariums.

(Encholirium horridum x Hechtia rosea (macdougallii) (spineless form) by Ray Lemieux. The first ever in this nothogenera! A large grower to about 5 feet across and 3 feet tall in a full rosette of about 150 leaves. The leaves are 2.25 inches at the base, tapering to a point, almost spineless, with a few random small spurs and average 45 inches long. The inflorescence is 5 feet tall, 1.5 inches thick at the base with 32 branches and is red with red bracts. The flowers have red sepals and red petals. The plant is a spectacular specimen for landscape, blushing bright red in strong light.

A Neo. ‘Fireball‘ x carolinae ‘Dwarf’ hybrid, at about 10 inches is larger than the original ‘Fireball’, and flushes a nice red in strong light. Good in Terrariums and its stoloniferous habit makes this a particularly good subject for hanging basket culture. Popular with landscapers.

This Chester Skotak cultivar (cross info not yet reported), when finished, is a medium size plant. From the shape, we speculate that this must be a compacta hybrid.  It has narrow green leaves with white margins and well before anthesis the plant develops a bright red veneer. The color at anthesis is a bit darker red. This plant produces offsets freely before anthesis.

A hybrid by Lisa Vinzant is a cultivar of Outrigger x crispata. A miniature hybrid that makes a great hanging plant. Olive green colored leaves have undersides with a reddish bronze veneer with red banding. The top side of the leaves lack the veneer and the red banding is almost absent on the tops of the leaves. The shape is a loose flaring rosette with a stoloniferous habit.

A cultivar of (Deuterocohnia longipetala ‘Silver’ x Pitcairnia burle-marxii) by Ray Lemieux. Narrow, spiny with soft, rubbery spines, deeply channeled, discolor leaves that are green on top and deep purple below. It has a tall scape with peach colored flowers. As far as we know this is the first of this nothogerera to be produced. The name comes from the fact that the spines are soft despite their appearance. Cultivate as a terrestrial bromeliad, bright shade, even moisture.

A beautiful hybrid (possibly lueddemanniana x weilbachii) with deep coppery-red leaves and a lavender or purple, erect inflorescence. A large grower that can easily reach 30 inches tall or more, but its upright habit makes it suitable for even limited growing areas. Would be a stunning specimen in landscape in warm regions.

A new miniature Neoregelia hybrid from Chester Skotak, cross information not yet reported. A dark green, ampoule shaped miniature with leaves striped with white variegation. The leaves have small red spots and occasional red barring but there is no color change at anthesis. Offsets are produced on stolons and the plant forms nice tight clusters.