(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.

Stephen Hoppin created this wonderful Cryptanthus, a cultivar of his cross of ‘Ebony Beauty’ x ‘Roseus.‘  A large grower with rich, shiny black leaves that have bright bands of silver running up their length. 

This is not your typical windowsill Cryptanthus unless you have a big windowsill, it can reach 18 inches across!  Like most Cryptanthus it has white flowers.

A cultivar of [‘Trailblazer’ x (‘Orange ‘n Rose’ x ‘Deep Purple’)] by Carole Richtmeyer. A very broad leaved plant in an arching, rosette shape that flattens when blooming.

The leaves are brownish-green with green splashes, lightly dusted with trichomes on the leaf bases. Produces offsets on short stolons.

A pink colored clone of this uniquely different terrestrial bromeliad that occured in a batch of seed from our own stock. Tall and narrow with succulent, banded foliage that more closely resembles a form of Sansevieria than most bromeliads. The foliage is normally dark blackish-green with bold silver banding, but this clone has a distinct pink tint. Look at the photos below with a comparison between the regular form and the pink clone. As with the normal clone, the inflorescence is a red spike with berry-like flowers with red bracts and violet petals. As a container plant it rarely exceeds 30 inches tall and can be grown in a 6 to 10 inch pot.

This form of Cryptanthus beuckeri is a pattern-less, solid green form.  It otherwise resembles the typical form which has mottled leaves, mainly in having petiolate leaves. A native of Bahia, Brazil.

This is a very widespread species that can be found from Mexico to Peru and across to Venezuela.  A variable species which commonly grows on cliffs as a terrestrial, but can grow on rocks as a lithophyte, and in trees as an epiphyte.  The plant has two dimorphic leaf forms, one a thin green blade which is deciduous and one which is a short, stiff, spiky leaf which looks more like a large spine.  When the plant goes dormant, the spiky leaves protect the bulbous base of the plant and flowers emerge on a very short scape before the new foliage appears.  Flowers are typically red, occasionally white and sometimes pink.  An easy to grow species that likes abundant moisture when growing, but much less in the dormant season.

This is a 2007 cultivar of ‘Durrell’ x ‘San Juan’ by Steve Hoppin. 

The shape is a loose rosette up to 10 inches tall and 24 inches across with shiny green leaves that are wavy and have serrated edges. The leaves have an olive green color that has a hint of bronze along the edge and slight scurfing on the underside of the leaves.

Both parents of this Ray Lemieux cross of Hechtia lanata x myriantha have some interesting characteristics that should express themselves when the plants grow out. The seed parent, H. lanata, has broad, scurfy, twisting and curling leaves in habitat, which is a tropical desert environment on nutrient poor cliffs.

In cultivation, seedlings of this species tend to have straighter foliage, at least here in sea-level Florida. The pollen parent, H. myriantha, is a giant grower, perhaps the largest of all Hechtia species. Anecdotal stories report that this plant can reach the size of a VW Beetle! The intent of this cross was to produce a large growing hybrid with twisted foliage and silvery scurf. Only time will tell if that will happen.

Note that a photo of the parents in the wild are shown.

Jim Irvin’s cross of (zonatus ‘Silver’ x ‘Ocean Mist’) is one of his best in our opinion. Dark brown leaves are almost entirely coated with silver banding to the point of nearly becoming solid silver. The brown shows through as narrow, zig-zag bands. A really pretty plant and a large grower too.

A pink flowering cultivar of Ray Lemieux’s (Encholirium horridum x Hechtia rosea (macdougallii) (spineless form). This is from the same grex as ‘Ruby’ and is part of the first ever in this nothogenera. A large grower that can reach over 4 feet across 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. The inflorescence can be over 4 feet tall and can have 30 branches or more and is light red. The flowers have light red sepals and pink petals. The plant is a spectacular specimen for landscape, blushing bright red in strong light.

First release of this small-ish Dyckia. Grown in bright light, the leaves are a dark purple over green, covered in white scurf with large pink spines.

This lovely Brazilian plant with silver banded chocolate-brown leaves, is one of the best of the genus. Resembling a Cryptanthus in general shape, but larger and more arching, it produces a very tall green inflorescence with burr-like floral bracts and small plantlets. Once very rare and costly. 

This Stephen Hoppin hybrid, a cultivar of ‘Stephen Hoppin’ x ‘Richard Lum,’ is a large, flattish, star-like rosette to 24 inch diameter.

Slightly scurfed, undulating foliage with tangerine, pink, and green mottled tones, or vibrant pink in stronger light, is marked with two defined longitudinal stripes running the entire length of the leaf and slightly scurfed beneath with some cross banding.

A species formerly in the genus Cryptanthus that could easily be taken as an Orthophytum or perhaps even a Dyckia in its foliar aspect.  Native to Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil where it grows an arid existence.  The leaves are stiff, succulent, and straight, about a half inch wide at the base and tapering to a point, bearing small, but stiff marginal spines. The color is silvery due to a heavy coat of trichomes.  Flowers are white.  Our clone of this plant originated with Prof. Dr. Werner Rauh and also carries the Selby accession number of SEL 1992-0080.

There are few Hechtia hybrids of any kind which is unfortunate because there are many with great potential. This hybrid has a few cultivars of (texensis x stenopetala) by California Hechtia expert Andy Siekkinen, selected for nearly identical characteristics. This means that it is quite possible to have both male and female plants within this hybrid grex. A very leafy and of course stiff and wickedly spiny rosette with leaves that taper to a long, narrow point and large spines are hooked inward. Depending on growing conditions, the plant can reach 30 inches across and color in bright light to full sun can vary from red to maroon.

Only a collector could love this oddity. A Bromelia-like terrestrial from Paraquay and Argentina that rarely reaches over a foot tall, has stiff, fleshy leaves, armed with backward pointing spines. The color is brownish with faint banding. The plants have a stoloniferous habit, sending up offsets a foot or more from the original. Culture can be as a pot plant in a 6 inch or larger container.