An unusual cross of (baileyi x achryostachys) by Patterson. An upright rosette with few leaves, about 12 inches tall. The foliage is narrow, fairly soft and silvery. A simple inflorescence is lanceolate in shape, mostly green but tinted pink. 

A natural hybrid of (caputmedusae x limbata) from Guatemala. At about 12 to 18 inches, it is larger than caputmedusae but smaller than limbata. It has fairly wide, long and tapering silvery leaves that curl at the tips. A slightly bulbous base and upright growth, eventually producing a lovely red inflorescence that rises above the foliage with an upright cluster of branches. Quite attractive and long lasting in bloom. Does great mounted and will form clusters of plants.

This plant was imported in the early 1980s from Guatemala and came in mixed with Tillandsia caput-medusae. When this plant flowered it was obvious to us that it was a hybrid and we consulted with Harry Luther who agreed that it was likely a caput-medusae x brachycaulos natural hybrid. Until 2013 we had been growing this plant under that name.

I recently submitted a photo of it to Derek Butcher and Geoffrey Lawn of the Hybrid Registry and Derek wrote me back saying “You have the original T. brachycaulos var multiflora see attached. However the botanists decided it was a natural hybrid which I maintain should be in alpha order because you do not know mother thus brachycaulos x caput-medusae. So we are in a quandary.

Under ICBN rules your plant has a ‘name’. I am suggesting we stretch the rules and under the ICNCP rules call your plant ‘Zacapa‘ linking it to the Lyman Smith variety and thus the Field herb specimen.” And so we are. This plant has grown much larger under cultivated conditions and maintains a nice coloration. A choice plant.

This is a very odd hybrid that doesn’t much resemble either parent. Assuming that the reported cross is correct, the plant does not have the thick leaves of either parent, the long stem or curled leaves of duratii or an inflorescence resembling either parent in any way. The flowers are large, spreading and light blue, borne on a tall scape with green bracts. The foliage is silvery, stiff, straight and forms a leafy rosette. Whether this hybrid is correctly identified remains a question, at least to me, but does not take away from the fact that this is a handsome plant.

A nice hybrid by Jim Irvin that unfortunately he never named nor registered. Using two South American species native to warm to hot arid regions. Tillandsia babuagrandensis is a species with a simple inflorescence of pinkish red from Peru in the region of Bagua Grande in the state of Amazonas and the didisticha is a handsome species from Bolivia and Argentina with a branched pink inflorescence.

The cross has many short, stiff, pointed leaves with a coating of silver trichomes. The inflorescence is a tall spike with on or two upright branches, red with silver trichomes giving it a pinkish coloration. Easy to grow, pups well and does best in bright light, mounted.

A cluster of tapering leaves, silvery with heavy trichomes. The inflorescence is a simple spike of pink, dusted with silver, bearing white flowers. We collected this plant quite some years ago at a very high altitude, about 12,000 feet. They were growing on rocks in full sun and were coated with heavy dust from the nearby dirt road. We never expected this plant to survive in Florida, at sea level, but survive they did, and thrive. They are slow growing, but steady and healthy and long lived.

A beautiful yellow-blushing form with white flowers, that we found in Costa Rica back in 2002 on a trip along with Chester Skotak and Hiroyuki Takizawa. We do not have many, even after all this time. It’s a little slower to grow than the typical form, but is worth the wait. SEL2002-0299

*VIPP plants are size small (approximately 2-3" tall)

A hybrid that we got from a friend some years ago that is of unknown provenance, to us anyway. It has “the look” of a Steve Correale hybrid but we do not know for sure. This cross was also done by Paul Isley and his cross is named Tillandsia ‘Mr. Mal Mele’, but it is not the same as our plant.

Ours has broad, recurving, silvery leaves and a slightly bulbous base. The leaves blush pinkish on the upper part of the plant at anthesis. The inflorescence is about as tall as the body of the plant overall, with long scape bracts. It bears 6 or more branches that are held upright at a 45-degree angle to the scape. Floral bracts are bright red with some silvery trichomes. Flowers are violet. A very attractive plant with a long-lasting inflorescence.

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!