Hi Japie ,it does look like Variety Zebrina ,wich tends to be more upright ,with lower leaves drooping ,the browning of is simply due to culture ,the real way to tell is when it flowers, as the flowers themselves are also marked with glyphs , i no longer have a plant of it ( bummer )also the leaves are narrow compared to the normal type ,so you look like you have the real deal,show us a piccie of the adult if you could ?
Jack

Thanks Jack. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of the adult, except for some that I took when the plant arrived here. At that stage, I was more into acquiring as many Neo's as possible, so every time I ordered plants, Fanus got himself a Vriesea or two and my habit is to take pictures of all new plants the moment they arrive. That's how I got these two. The white tag is 9 cm long for size comparison. I sadly also did not see the flower of the plant when it flowered.

So here's what the adult looked like when it arrived here almost 3 years ago.

Vr hieroglyphica var zebrina:

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Japie

Hello Japie ,going by the photo of the adult plant you kindly posted ,i would have to say no its not ,BUT its a poor specimen and the differences are not huge anyway ,so i would reserve judgement as the pup exhibits all the traits and markings for Zebrina ,I would suggest that you leave it tagged that way and see how it develops ,i would be interested in seeing how it goes later on ,there is not alot of the genuine Zebrina around , ( there is a plant sold on Ebay here in Oz that is a dead set fraud , being a hybrid from Hieroglyphica x Platynema but allways labeled as Zebrina ) as the genuine plant was imported into Greater Europe in the early days of collecting i would expect it to show up on your side of the world , its very doubtfull if any still exsists in the wild ,please keep us posted on how the plant grows up , Thank you for posting the photos Japie ,all the best growing it well ,
Jack

Hi Guys

Japie, whether your plant is var. Zebrina or not you wont know untill it flowers, var. Zebrina has stripes (glyphs) from the leaves to the scape bracts right through to the floral bracts, if it doesn't have stripes on the floral bracts then it's not var. Zebrina, var. Zebrina is also bi or tri-pinnate, regular hiero. is not. As far as foliage goes there is NO difference between regular hiero. or var. Zebrina, this is not a distinguishing feature to use for I.D. ONLY THE BRACT STRIPES & BRANCHING.

As far as your droopy brown foliage goes, that's cultural, you need to feed it more, both foliar & slow release & good air circulation.

If your plant is a true Zebrina I would like some seed one day if you have some to spare.

Pinkbroms

Hi guys, interesting thread and Japie, that pup sure is a nice looking plant.

And pinkbroms, you've answered a question for me before I asked it. I was really disappointed when my main hiero plant started loosing quite a few leaves around the bottom a few weeks ago. The rest of the plant still looks super healthy, but it has lost its great rounded shape when viewed from the side. Now I realise that the last lot of slow release went on it over a year ago and I've been a bit slack with the foliar feeding for a couple of months while I've been extending the shadehouse. It gets fed tomorrow.

Thanks, Paul

Pinkbroms, you're welcome some seeds when it flowers - which I hope is not soon!! Will it self-pollinates or should I help it? I am sure I will post a picture of it when it gets into flower so I can get confirmation from all of you whether it is really the Zebra or not. Please remind me then about seeds should I forget.

Japie

Hi Japie

In my experience it does self, however with such an elusive plant as var. Zebrina, if you have the real one it would be safer to assist & give it a tickle yourself just to be sure, nature is too fickle to trust it to do it on its own.