Hi bromaholic,

That's sure one beautiful looking plant, and well grown too. Thank's for sharing.

All the best, Nev.

Hi Shane,

You're right about that plant, what a great look! I hope you managed to get some pups from it. If you run out of room for them, I'm sure I could help out.

Cheers, Paul

Love it too Shane.I actually look forward to winter when I find most of my broms take on more color.I have a vinicolor that does something similiar in winter,but is a fairly boring green in summer.

Shane those colours are stunning mate. I wish mine would colour up in Winter like yours.

Wow!

Thats as nice an Imperialis as i have seen Shane , allthough it would improve if it was in my collection ,strange as that may be
Jack

Shane,

That is one good looking imperialus, is it coming into flower?

I have a silver plum that is tubing, it is the first Alc that I have bought - I've never had one flower before, I'm excited.

Rick

Great photos and Alc, Shane! I love the colour and stripes too. You've obviously found a happy home for "him". I think you may have one superior "cologne" there.

K :)

Hi All...my plant is blushing (more) from your comments!

I got one little hairy off it so far Paul, but I was told by the nursery guy when I bought it (and it had this stripey look way back then) that imperialis can display this feature sometimes.

No not flowering yet Rick, but when it does the seeds are all yours!

Hey Jack, you can have it in your collection, if I can have a Machu Picchu in mine...hmmmm...

Hello Winter!! Looks great!

Umm.................. jeez, I hate to be the one to rain on everyone's parade, but doesn't anyone else think that could be viral?

Nah that didn't even cross my mind; then again I wouldn't know what viral looks like.

In summer it 'reverts' to a normal imperialis look.

Ok Jack it's all yours.

I think Lisa is right; it is viral.

How about quarantining it at my place?

"In summer it 'reverts' to a normal imperialis look."

Do I remember right that heat represses viruses?

Tomas

Hi Tomas,

A lot of clones of Alc. imperialis get that red pigmentation every winter then lose it every summer, so I don't think there is anything unusual about this plant loosing that striation in summer - it is just loosing its red pigmentation in the way that is normal for these plants.

If it was viral, I would have expected the striations to be retained in the greener summer colouring as well. Since they don't seem to be, I suspect it is simply the result of striated patterning in the arrangement of cells that produce the red pigment in winter vs cells that don't. There could be nothing abnormal about the cells that don't produce the red pigment, since lots of clones of Alc. imperialis don't produce the red pigment in winter.

But, if Shane is really worried about the plant having a virus, I'll happily drive the 800km to pick it up from him asap.

Cheers, Paul

Hi Shane,

Just to add to Paul's comments, I'd be happy to accompany him on the 800km trip to your place and we could talk brom's all the way up and all the way back. I'd even stand guard over the plant on the way home.

All the best, Nev.

Ok ,a word about viral infections ,Once affected the entire plant is affectted for life and all parts are affected ,eventually the viruses kill all the living cells and then the tissue goes brown as the cell structure collapses and dies , heat does not surpress virus in fact it enhances the chlorotic streaking affect,but its impossible to wax and wane ,once affected the symptoms are visible at all times ,viruses affect the normal cells by invading them then they cause the normal cells to replicate the virus ,a virus will not and can not cross across the leaves veins,but in the case of this Imperialis you will note that the different streaks do indeed cross the veins of the leaf structure but not on all leaves ,having done a fair amount of study on viral infection on plant(s) i have no hesitation in saying that this plants streaking is not caused by a virus,I also would be happy to quaranteen it at my place , i would say it is merely an aborant form of pigment cells that rearange themselves in a random pattern induce by the colder months , certainly there are very specific viruses ,like the virus that affects the flowers of tulips thereby causing them to have that wonderfull flame like flaring on the petals ,it affects no other part of the plant that way ,but the whole plant carries it ,the biggest and best known virus is TMV ( tobacco Mosaic Virus ) so quit smoking around your plants ! this creates "bunchy top " in banana trees ,amongst other things ,Virus in plants is best compared to Leukemia in humans ,except virus in plants can not be cured or put in remission ,as for the Machu Picchu ? i will think about it Shane ,
Jack

Hi Jack,

That's a great educational explanation about viruses.

I remember back when I was growing orchids 40 years back, there was a bloke in the orchid society who always kept people out of his shade houses if they were smoking because of the link between tobacco and viruses. Of course in those days when smoking was socially accepted, everyone laughed at him and said he was eccentric, but in later years he was proved to be correct.

Just one thing though Jack, your offer to quarantine the plant is second on the list, as Paul offered first and I'm going to help him. Ha, ha.

All the best, always learning Nev.

I certainly hope for Shane's sake that you're right, Jack, but since I started this I figured I'd better explain why I said that.

I see those kind of dark streaks (particularly visible on the leaf in the lower right in the second pic) on my Neos from time to time, and while they can initially be rather attractive, I've found it never bodes well. They usually have a raised or sunken feature too, something you can feel with your finger and not just see. Unlike your Alcantarea, though, they don't go away with time or seasonal change, so that part admittedly has me confused. I've never had them actually diagnosed as a virus, but it's got to be some sort of pathogen, and the behavior just seems more viral than fungal or bacterial to me. I'm not sure how else to explain that, it's just a gut thing. And yes, it can spread, but seems to affect certain cultivars more than others.

I wish I could show you several examples, but they are mostly buried in the trash pile! The only one I have to photograph at the moment is this carcharodon Tiger.

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It's not exactly fast-moving, I started to see it on this plant some time last year. If it was anything else it would probably be on the pile with the rest by now, but I guess I was hoping against hope that it might go away or at least give me an unaffected pup. No such luck, so it's got to go.

The fact that it has also lost its zonation on the upper part of the leaves I think is just a coincidence. Tiger will do that from time to time, and I've had others lose their stripes and later gain them back, without any signs of virus or other pathogens.

Hi again,

Lisa, that's very interesting and I can certainly see what raised your eyebrows having seen the pics of that c. 'Tiger' of yours. It very clearly has lines of dead and dying cells, with the purple pigments concentrating around them to varying extents as they often do around damaged tissues in some plants.

As you say, the thing that doesn't seem to gel with this is if Shane's Alc. reverts back to non-red healthy tissue in summer without leaving lines of permanently damaged cells corresponding to the striated pattern from the previous winter. Interesting stuff. I think I'm still pretty keen on that 800km drive.

Cheers, Paul

Hi Lisa,yes i can understand your concern and cerainly i have had different plants ( mostly Orchids )that have suffered from viral infection(s) one thing they all have in common is that they all cause the tissue to shrink ,go brown ( negrotic ) and die ,some are very specific ,in Cattley Orchids it may not show for up to 7 years on the leaves ,but the flowers are affected first ,its called " colour break" and a white flower will be streaked with pink to mauve ,this goes brown fairly quickly , Cymbidium orchids are the most prone of any plant i know ,and it shows as a checkerboard pattern of whitish ,and yellowish and pale green ,and lots of almost square flecks of black ,the flowers are last affected ,but flowering gets worse each year , Bromeliads are not that easily infected ( thank goodness) some plants have been infected for the nursery trade,such as the Variegated Abulutons ( chinese lantern hibiscus )just to make them variegated ,that virus has no other affect on them at all ,it is a big and varied subject and to err on the side of caution is allways a good idea ,Your Tiger is different to Shane's ,i have had the odd Neo and Guzmania do exactly that ,and yes the go to the bin ,mostly viruses can't get into a plant unless its damaged .a cut or broken leaf ,or grasshoppers can spread it as can a few other sap suckers ,Aphids are generally to small ,but a large amount of them could lead to trouble ,there are test kits available ,for the 3 main viruses ,but the best way is to send tissue to a Lab,if it is suspected the plant is best burnt,some viruses are so specific they will only attack one species ,such as Amaryllis ( Hippeastrum ) virus ,the amazing thing is that the plant viruses are such simple organisms,and minutely small ,it takes 200degrees to kill Tobacco Mosiac Virus !Burnt tobacco still has live virus in the ash !
However All you readers ,please dont go on a witch hunt and start destroying every plant with a dark spot ,most times its a different pathogen all together , Tissue culture can be done on affected plants and eliminate it in the resulting plantlets ,but ? the resulting plants are very very susceptable to infection ,with Orchids it was found that green seed does not transmit,but dry seed does carry it ,the principle may be the same for lots of seeds ,but some seed can only be used ripe and dry ,Vriesea for instance , PLease understand that i am not employing scare tactics ,far from it , its about being aware ,and i do thank you Lisa for that photo ,its good to have a file photo of that type of thing ,I have so far only had 2 Vrieseas that i felt where definitely affected ,maybe they are more resistant ,maybe i am lucky ,i did do tests to try and artificially induce it but had absolutly no luck at all ,and as you stated Lisa ,you can feel with your fingers ,its either raised or sunken ,and thats not a good sign ,cleanliness is important ,but that goes without saying ,and yes If the symptoms appear on the pup(s) i would start to get worried ,the lack of Zonation is(as you said Lisa ,) some thing that Tiger does by itself and thats no cause for concern ,
Jack

Hi Shane,
No not a virus if it were I would expect the striations to be more erratic more deforming pitted and stunted. I think it is a lovely alc. but if you want to keep those markings keep growing it hard and do not fertilize.
Dooley.