THIS PLANT IS ON C.I.T.E.S. AND CANNOT BE EXPORTED

This cross of xerographica x brachycaulos has been made before and at least one clone is registered as “Betty.”  This plant, however, is not the same, though of course, you’d expect similarities.  Our clone most closely resembles the xerographica parent in the foliage, with broad, channeled, fairly stiff, curling, silvery leaves.  The inflorescence is tall with many upright greenish branches and long scape bracts that blush slightly red at anthesis.  A nice large showy plant!

A natural hybrid from Tropiflora of Tillandsia stricta x aeranthos.

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.

A lovely, robust hybrid by Jim Irvin is a cultivar of (limbata x bulbosa).  Most closely resembling the bulbosa parent with a bulbous base, glossy leaves, and a branched, red inflorescence, it does differ though in some aspects.  The plant is larger than bulbosa, growing to about 12 inches tall with upright, terete leaves that are glossy or nearly lacking visible trichomes.  The color is green overall until anthesis. 

The inflorescence is tall with multiple branches which are long and slender (more so than bulbosa) and bright red in color.  The foliage will blush slightly bronzy-reddish at anthesis and in stronger light.  A vigorous grower that produces more offsets than the bulbosa parent, forming nice clusters in a relatively short time. 

A nice looking plant with bulbous base and terete leaves that curve gracefully downward. A cultivar of (intermedia x caputmedusae) by noted Tillandsia breeder Mark Dimmitt and named by Paul Isley. 

The foliage is silvery and the inflorescence; multi-branched, bright red with purple flowers, is long lasting a showy. Forms clusters of plants in time and is especially easy to grow.

A spectacular, large, red-bracted cultivar of ‘Houston‘ (stricta x recurvifolia) a popular Mark Dimmitt hybrid. A very leafy 8 inch, gray-green rosette, with a large, full inflorescence of bright red bracts and flaring white flowers. 

A spectacular hybrid by Steve Correale is a cultivar of chiapensis x botterii.  A large grower with a loose rosette shape that can reach 30 inches across and 20 inches tall.  The leaves are thick and leathery, heavily scurfed with silver trichomes, silvery but tinting pink in strong light.  The inflorescence can be 30 inches tall with long, thick, upright and curving branches of pink.  Bizarre and different but also beautiful. 

*VIPP plants are Offsets

We have had this plant for quite a few years, having acquired it as T. ionantha ‘Snake’. It appears to be a hybrid with ionantha as one parent, but the other is unknown. Sometimes growing conditions will cause ionantha varieties to grow excessively long, but this one grows and grows under normal greenhouse conditions here in Florida. Aside from the long stem, which can reach well over 24 inches, it has narrow, fleshy leaves, hundreds of them, along the stem. The foliage is silvery gray and the inflorescence is a short scape of tight pink branches that barely exerts itself above the foliage. Offsets form along the stem at irregular intervals. An oddity worth growing. 

An early hybrid (1960’s) by Charles Wiley is a cultivar of (seleriana x bulbosa). The cross was made in Eastern Germany and is a relic of the Cold War era. Aside from this, the plant is a handsome combination of both parents. More bulbosa-like it is however stouter with more leaves and has a slight scurff unlike the bulbosa parent. The inflorescence is a short rachis with red branches and a corresponding blush in the upper leaves at anthesis. 

This is a natural hybrid apparently of (ionantha x lenca (formerly fasciculata ‘Hondurensis’) that came from Honduras and was given to Bill Timm some years ago. Later Bill gave us a piece back with the name ‘Veronica’s Gift’ on it. It took quite a while to propagate enough to release them.

It is a handsome plant with many silvery, semi-stiff leaves in a full, vase shaped rosette. Unusual for an ionantha hybrid, it does not blush in the center at anthesis but rather produces a short cluster of pinkish branches and blue flowers. A very nice plant that has proven easy to cultivate under typical conditions afforded our Tillandsias.

Something really special. This hybrid of (chiapensis x capitata ‘Red’) by Steve Correale is a jewel, with many characteristics of both parents, but favoring the chiapensis side. Broad, channeled leaves recurve in a graceful rosette to almost 12 inches across.

The inflorescence is a scape to about 4 inches long, with long scape bracts and a cluster of erect, pink branches. Long lasting in bloom, it blushes a pinkish-peach color under the abundant silvery trichomes. 

Steve Correale’s cross of (capitata (red form) x streptophylla) bears some resemblance to both parent plants, but is definitely not to be confused with either. The foliage is rather soft but heavy, silvery-pink with trichomes and forming a bulbous based, open rosette with recurving leaves.

The inflorescence reaches almost 18 inches and has short silvery branches and large blue flowers, and has many long, leaf-like, pink, scape bracts as well. A choice plant named after Steve’s granddaughter.