A beauty.

I enjoyed reading this thread just now, as I had never seen this one.

I have become confused on this Vriesea, and the more info I search the more confused I become. I purchased the first pictured plant last year as Vriesea gigantea 'Nova'. I purchased the second and third pictured plant late last year as Vriesea gigantea. I have read that 'Nova' is a cv of gigantea V. seideliana. Not to confuse myself more I will ask here. Is the second and third photos just V. gigantea V. seideliana?

Whoa, I can't help with the ID, but is the color on the second one realistic? It's a beauty!

Karen, that Air Plant (Tillandsia brachycaulos) is gorgeous! I thought the red color might just be due to high light but I don't know a thing about them and had never even heard the name before your post. Keep us updated with pic's if it does indeed produce a bloom!

Scot, Wow ... you have some amazing plants at your place! I can't help with the Vriesea name either but some of the photos in the database for Bromeliad (Vriesea gigantea) look like both of your plants.

According to the Catalogue of Life, Vriesea seideliana is an accepted name while
Vriesea gigantea var. seideliana is a synonym for Vriesea gigantea.

I had never seen that tillandsia either. My local nursery-SummerWinds, has started getting in a lot of air plants. That one is really red, so I'm sure hoping it will bloom soon. I have it right above my little pond in the greenhouse, so hopefully it's happy.

Karen, I got a couple last fall at Tropiflora that looked quite a bit like that. They were very red then, and had flower spikes on them. But . . I went away on a trip and missed the flowers entirely. They are now not red at all, but each single plant has now doubled, and I do hope to get pictures next time. (sorry about all the leaves, I just scampered out in the dark and snapped a picture, as is)


This is what they looked like when I bought them. You can see the flower buds but I'm pretty sure they open more than that. They didn't have a tag so I'm not sure of the name on these.

What a bummer to miss the flowers. That happens to me all the time since we have to go back and forth between 2 places every few weeks. Yours does look like mine. They sure are happy looking and it's nice when they grow quickly. I'll be sure to post pics if it blooms.