The truth is, we suspect that this plant is not a fasciculata at all, but rather either a new species or one that we do not know about. For now though, for lack of a better name and because of its resemblance to that species, we will call it Tillandsia fasciculata ‘Yellow & Purple’. The plant is like a ‘typical’ fasciculata with an upright rosette formed of stiff, narrow leaves, but the inflorescence is rather stunning. A purple rachis with yellowish branches, showy and long lasting. If anything comes of the name, we’ll keep you posted.

Formerly Vriesea hitchcockiana, now classified as Tillandsia,  hitchcockiana has narrow, stiff leaves in a graceful rosette.  The inflorescence is pink, branched and very tall, with lavender flowers.  Native from Ecuador to Peru, it is a saxicole or epiphyte in nature.  It bears certain similarity to Vr. cereicola but lacks the stoloniferous habit of that species.

Tillandsia hitchcockiana and Vriesea cereicola are two species of gray leaved Vrieseas that are superficially similar. Both have stiff leaves and grow in a more or less tight, upright rosette. Their inflorescences, an overall pink, can be simple or branched. Some basic differences are this; hitchcockiana is a dark brownish gray and does not have stolons, cereicola is silver and is quite stoloniferous. Both are epiphytic or saxicolous, cereicola is fond of growing on cacti, hence the name.

We acquired this clone from Selby Gardens without an accession number. This clone was most likely collected by Mark Dimmit and makes silvery-green clumps.