This would appear to be an uncommon bloom shape for a Dyckia. Any ideas?

Interesting ... it somewhat reminds me of the scape of

Hetty, I am so bad comparing photo's but check out the shape of this one ... similar shape/form? http://cycadjungle.8m.com/cyca...

A photo of the plant itself might help. They look like buds which have yet to open, when they do that would also help.

Hetty, I'm still googling ... look at this one: http://forums.gardenweb.com/fo...

Hi Janet! I agree, those are buds that are not yet opened on Hetty's plant but I think it's the stem/scape shape that maybe Hetty was referring to as possibly uncommon. The plant in the link in my last post is listed as x Dyckchonia.

Hi Lin.

I can now see an open, yellow tubular flower and yes, Hetty was referring to the form but in order to be able to determine anything one has to see the flowers and leaves. There are many Dyckia sp. and hybrids which could be difficult to separate, however in order to first determine that it is a Dyckia one really needs to see the whole plant, we know how some plants are mis-named or have had a name change somewhere in history.

There's one on the following site which has a similar form, but the flowers are not as long.

http://www.bromtravels.nl/ht/d...

Here is a picture of the plant itself.

I grow a lot of Dyckia species and cultivars, and I've never seen dyckia flowers with that shape. Even though the plant looks a lot like a dyckia, the flowers, at an unopen stage, look more like a Hechtia, which is also a genus of terrestrial bromeliad. They can look very close to each other, plant form wise.

cycadjungle

Hechtia certainly looks like it, but I can't find any with flowers like this. Do you know of any which it might be?

The flowers are very similar to Aloe, could it be an Aloe hybrid?

http://plantlust.com/plants/al...

The unusual inflorescence shape was what got me started on this quest. I'm glad this is turning into a mystery (and that I have some knowledgeable people looking into it!!!)

Maybe a cross with Aloe arborescens ?

http://www.rarepalmseeds.com/p...

http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw...

Aloe Evil Twin has branched flower stems, there must be other similar hybrids..

http://www.huntington.org/Bota...

If you have an hour or two to spare, there's hundreds on amazing Aloes to view on flickr! You can keep scrolling through them using the arrows.

https://www.flickr.com/groups/...

This plant does not in any way resemble an Aloe, it is not succulent at all. I have seen Hechtias and Dyckias and it is closest to a Dyckia. I will keep taking pictures of the inflorescence as it develops.
Thanks for all the input.

As an aside, we have about 100 different Aloes at the Botanical Garden where I work and I know that is not even close to a small percentage of all available ones....

I hate to post a link to that "other" site but for comparison I found this photo of Dyckia encholirioides x brevifolia:

And, it's of course not this one but similar flower form:

Perhaps its in the genus Deuterocohnia. The inflorescence and flowers on D. longipetala look similar. I love a mystery.

That was a new Genus to me! I'm looking it up. One reference says the inflorescence will continue to bloom for years!! That plant would deserve a better space in my yard then.

I saw a reference where it was blooming at exactly this time of year. We may be on to something....!
Wish I knew where I got this plant...

@sheryl - I see you posted a picture of Deuterocohnia longipetala. So did @robertduval14 . Do either of you have any insight?

Deuterocohnia longipetala seems a good match, depending on whether the photos you see are correct. the leaves on the fcbs show them to be silver but that could be variable. Looking at the photo it does say 'silver form'!

http://fcbs.org/cgi-bin/dbman/...

I've checked other species, none look to come close ..

http://fcbs.org/cgi-bin/dbman/...