That's not what I was expecting either, Chanin!

I have one that has never bloomed. I don't know if it's male or female, in fact I didn't even know they were dioecious. Is there any other dimorphism in the plant, or do the males and females look the same apart from the flower?

Hi Lisa, sure a male plant look more muscular LOL ;-))

I think only the flower part that is different. I heard Achmea mariae-reginae
and Androlepis skinneri are dioecious too.

Yeah, I know about the Aechmea and Androlepis, and some people swear they can tell the difference between the male and female plants just by the foliage. I don't know if that's true because I only have females.

I don't think they can tell the difference on skinneri without a bloom and recently I discovered there are 4 clones of this plant. All the foliage is a bit different on each clone

Some of my friends have kept Hechtia glauca too, but I found their plants produced
quite a lot of pups, while mine never. Would it be the difference?!
Anyhow, those plants have never bloomed.

What, you mean real men don't pup? ;-)

LOL..In this case, I guess that the female plant can reproduce by seed,
so she need no pup, while male plant has to be the puppier.

Hmmm, thought this looked funny. I just looked up the paper that Utley & Utley described the species. They wrote that the plant is a terminal bloomer not a lateral bloomer. Something seems a bit fishy. Let us know when it blooms again. This seems like an anomalous bloom.
-andy