An albomarginated clone of Cryptanthus zonatus (aka fosterianus).  Growing from 18 inches to 24 inches across, the leaves are a chocolate brown in color with hot pink margins.  There are regularly spaced silver bands across the leaves.  Truly one of the best Cryptanthus to have!

Jim Irvin has a knack with Cryptanthus, (as well as other bromeliads!), and has produced numerous first-class hybrids.  This is one of which he can be proud.  This hybrid, a cultivar of ‘Sweet Tooth’ x ‘Ice Age,’ and a grex mate to ‘Very Cold Tooth,’ is a dark brown, almost black plant with closely spaced cross banding of silver trichomes with dense silver white scurf underneath.  The inch-wide leaves are long and graceful, undulating at the margins in a symmetrical rosette.

*VIPP plants are Offsets

A woody shrub-like spineless Euphorbia from southern Madagascar, which forms a silver-barked trunk and full crown of branches with narrow dark green/gray leaves.

Most amazing is the size of the caudex it ultimately makes, a gourd-like, woody main root up to 6 inches thick which can be elevated above the soil. Makes a great succulent bonsai subject.

Formerly Orthophytum rafaelli. A stunning newly described small growing species from the Chapada Diamantina of Bahia Brazil in the vicinity of Palmeira, Serra das Paridas, Cachoeira do Mosquito. A lithophyte living is rock crevices on cliff faces, partly shaded by shrubs. The area is typical of ‘Campos Rupestres’, a seasonally dry, rocky scrubland between rocky hills and plateaus.

A plant to about ten to twelve inches across or less when grown hard, with many narrow, stiff leaves, heavily armed with large, curved spines. Green above and white below, with a heavy dusting of trichomes. Bright light brings out a red blush and the color at anthesis is cherry red with a green center and white flowers. Offsets are produced on stolons. A highly decorative species. Described in 2011 by Elton Leme and named after its discoverer Rafael de Oliveira.

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.