That doesn't look like the Neo Inca that I have. Even in lower light conditions it doesn't turn green.

thats not Inca..its to large..maybe a marcon hybrid?

Sorry that should have said maybe 'another' Maron hybrid

*sigh*

Trying to ID Neo hybrids from FCBS pictures is kind of like saying "I met someone who said she was from Brisbane. I checked Facebook and I think it might be Sally G."

This makes several false assumptions: a) that the person you met must be on Facebook, b) that their FB photo actually looks like them, c) that they told the truth about where they were from, and c) that that information will be included in their FB profile. I could go on, but I think you get the point.

FCBS is a useful tool, but it's most useful when you see a cv. name and want to get some idea what that cv. may look like, rather than the other way around. I say "some idea" because Neos in particular are very plastic (changeable in form, coloration and markings due to growing conditions). And you always have to keep in mind one important fact: NOT EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS IS ON FCBS. Even if it's registered. Only photos that have been submitted to the site (or taken by the webmaster) are posted there. That's a lot of pictures, but it's really just the tip of the iceberg.

That green patch in the center of Rick's plant is not an IDable trait, and also has nothing to do with light levels. It's simply a result of it having passed through a period of cool weather just before it bloomed. Many marmorated Neos will do that in temperate climates, giving the impression that they are banded or two-tone, or even that the cup turns green or white at anthesis (see Madame President). Grown in the tropics, however, they will be a solid speckled pattern throughout. That alone can lead to confusion. If I were to buy one of Vic Przetocki's lovely Vulkan x Avalon crosses based on the striking patterns his photos show, I would probably be very disappointed at how they looked after growing at my place for a year. What's more, if someone were to give me one of them without a cv. name after growing it in Hawaii for a while, I would be completely unable to pin down which one it was from the FCBS photo files.

There are soooo many marmorated hybrids floating around out there (and so many concentrica-type cvs and carolinae-type cvs, etc.) that unless there is some very unique and consistant trait about the one you have, trying to pin it down based on a limited file of photos is an iffy proposition at best. That doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't try, just take what you find with a grain of salt.

I don't mean to pick on you, Rick. You did exactly what I would have done-- search FCBS for Foster hybrids. Based on that, you can at least eliminate a lot of things, but I'm not seeing anything in either your photo or the ones that came up on the search to make me want to write a name on a tag, so I hope you won't either. That is how misidentifications get spread around, and that just makes for more confusion down the road, not less.

Thanks everybody,

I'm happy to leave it labelled as a Mulford Foster Hyb.

Rick

Nice Lisa, I think you have just made the first Facebook reference on the Bromeliad forum! And quite an apt metaphor. I think someone else on the forum has mentioned before how it would be nice if the photos or somewhere on the FCBS plant file could incorporate the location of the hybridist and/or the location/climate that the photographed plant lives. I know it would be probably a huuuuuge headache and hard to do, but I can dream, right?
-andy