A beautiful plant that forms large colonies on the rocks of its Brazilian habitat of Cabo Frio. A caulescent lithophyte with short, stiff, green to bronzy leaves and a nice inflorescence of salmon bracts and blue flowers. Forms many offsets on the old stems. Very easy to grow in partial to full sun.

Bold white margins contrast with deep green leaves that blush reddish in strong light. At anthesis the center flushes deep red. Widely popular in landscape use in central and southern Florida.

Mark Dimmit’s hybrid of the same grex as ‘Houston’, a (stricta x recurvifolia) cross. Larger than either parent, it has many silvery, semi-soft leaves in a full 8 inch rosette. The large semi-pendant inflorescence has bright rose-red bracts. A very showy plant!

With its clumping habit, brilliant rose bracts and inky blue flowers, this species is a gem of the Tillandsia world. From the ‘southern cone’ of South America, it is tolerant of some cold. Beautiful and undemanding.

A neat miniature, stoloniferous, clumping species that matures at less than 6 inches tall. Its gracefully curving, slightly speckled leaves form a bulbous base and a 10 inch flower spike with light red, white tipped bracts. Discovered near Parati in Rio de Janeiro state of Brazil and described in 1980, it is a native of low, wet rainforest where it grows as an epiphyte. An easy to grow yet rare collector item. Superior for terrariums.

*VIPP plants are large Offsets

A beautiful caulescent plant with short, broadly triangular, silvery-gray leaves and a stunning red-flowered inflorescence. A native of Bolivia where it lives a lithophytic existence on sheer rock cliffs, hanging in massive cascades. Care-free to grow, when mounted in a pendant fashion it freely produces offsets along its old stem, soon forming large attractive clusters.

Our stock came from a collection we made in 1993 in Bolivia. The excitement still lingers when I think of my fist encounter with the species in the wild. We had been traveling the rugged canyons that lay between ridge after ridge of the Cordillera de los Andes on Bolivia’s rugged and desolate eastern frontier.

On our satellite maps the terrain appeared to have been clawed by a giant jaguar, leaving parallel grooves hundreds of miles long etched deeply into the altiplano. We were weary from several weeks travel having seldom enjoyed a bed or hot meal. It remains a mystery why in such a relatively rich habitat for Tillandsias such as this, that one can travel for many miles and endless hours and not see a single plant! But on this dusty day our luck changed.

In a deep gorge where the escarpment walls seemed to rise and close in, causing dark shadows across the valley floor, we came into an incredible sight. Our first hint was an isolated cliff, across a muddy stream, that had a small colony of a caulescent Tillandsia. Crossing the stream, a break in the monotony of the day, I carried collecting pole and camera towards the cliff. Distance deceives among the stone monoliths of these haunting canyons and as the ‘bushes’ at the cliff base became large trees at my approach, so also did the Tillandsias disappear into the forest canopy.

Reaching the base of the cliff, I couldn’t even see the plants that lured me in the first place, as they were easily over a hundred feet overhead obscured by the canopy of the forest. However, with adrenaline coursing as it does when victory or discovery is in the wind, we drove onward to our reward. Not over a mile further on, the cliffs, which towered hundreds of feet tall, were covered with Tillandsias as far as the eye could see. Approaching this time we discovered that our long awaited prize was Tillandsia edithae!

Buy one now and save the bone-jarring, dust-eating, dangerous trip to Bolivia’s eastern desert.

An apparent natural hybrid from Mexico of (brachycaulos x paucifolia) as identified by Harry Luther. After acquiring the plant, Bill Timm made a note to ‘Ask Harry’ and I guess the name stuck. Wouldn’t have been my pick, but it is what it is. Anyway, this is a handsome little plant in an upright vase shape of stiff, deeply channeled leaves that are reddish with light silver banding. The inflorescence is fairly short, may or may not branch and is pink with blue flowers. Showy plants. 

A spectacular cross by Steve Correale of (chiapensis x fasciculata ‘Magnificent’) SC. A good blend of the parents; the basic shape of a fasciculata, but with more ‘substance’ and scurffing, like the chiapensis parent. The inflorescence has the shape of the fasciculata, which is an outstanding form native to northern Panama, but is a bit thicker and dusted with the silver thichomes of chiapensis. When well grown, one of the most spectacular of Tillandsias.

*VIPP plants are Offsets

A fairly newly resurrected species related to compressa and fasciculata, native to the State of Veracruz in Mexico. The type locality is near the town of Hidalgotitlán in the seasonally dry, broad leaf forests of the eastern Isthmus of Tehuantepec. A medium sized plant to about 20 inches tall with narrow, tapering leaves in an upright vase shape. The inflorescence is stunning, uprightly branched and bright yellow. An outstanding plant without any special cultural requirements other than typical for Tillandsias.

*VIPP plants are Offsets

A hybrid of Tillandsia aeranthos x gardneri. Fairly stiff, silvery-green leaves in a full 8 inch rosette. Pretty pink floral bracts. Easy to grow and prolific.

It’s hard to improve on Tillandsia brachycaulos, a pretty, easy to grow, green plant that blushes bright red when in bloom. But, growers are always looking for something better or at least different, and this clone has been judged to be ‘brighter red’ with noticeably narrower leaves. Whether it is better than the original or typical clone is a matter of conjecture and more to the point, in the eye of the beholder, but anyway it is a nice little show plant worthy of space in your collection.