I picked this up at Giant for $5, woohoo. They had wanted $16 but since the bloom was spent she marked it donw for me to a price I was pretty happy with. Now, can anyone ID this one? I love the way the leaves change patterns as they mature and since this is in fact my first ever Brom I would love to keep it alive and happy.
One more shot
I think it is Vriesea splendens.
hcmc is probably right. The only other possibility is Vr. glutinosa (unlikely) or it could be a splendens hybrid. In any case a very nice plant.
Vr. splendens has a somewhat unusual habit that after it blooms (a bright red sword-shaped spike) it sends only a single pup right up the middle of the plant. (We call this an upper-pupper - Guzmania sanguinea is another.) You can remove the single pup it you are very careful (you must get some of the woody part), then you will be rewarded with more basal pups. But it requires a careful procedure and if you cut the pup off too high (in the soft area) it will die. But if so you will likely get some more pups anyway. Most people don't try but it's really not too difficult. Another way is to deliberately damage the center of the new pup (a somewhat Draconian measure but it works).
Dave.
Thanks you two. I believe you both are right, in the center around the spike(spent flower), there seems to be pups coming up. There are three that I can see but very far into the plant. I would assume that in order to get these pups I should wait for a while for them to grow/mature more before I attempt to remove them.
Now off to make a tag for it.
Thanks so much.
Janet
That is a nice one. I have always been a fan of the variegated/molted ones. They really stand out in the garden.
