Hi Tomas,

To me it certainly looks like a Vriesea of the patterned foliage type, and similar to an unregistered hybrid I have called Vr. Ensiformis x Red Chestnut. (sorry about the finger in the pic)

There are other members on this forum with much more knowledge of Vrieseas than I, so no doubt you will get an answer.

{{gwi:470823}}

All the best, Nev.

Tomas,

I was going thru some older posts (I am a newbie to the tribe)..not sure why you didn't get any other responses to this?...Looks to me like you have the species Vriesea fosteriana there....or if it's not, it's a very good hybrid of it ??

VF can grow large, over 1M (most cultivars and hybrids using it like Nev's are a little smaller). There is also a "Rubra" (red/white) version of it that is common (down under anyway). If you put it in much more light and feed it a little, you should get much better markings on it.

Hope that helps..

Cheers
Graeme

Hi Tomas, in regards the Vriesea,it is not Ensiformis x fosteriana, that cross was done by the late Lou Forrest,here in Australia, i knew the man very well and grew some seed from that cross and they where nearly all identical and i think it may be the green form of Vr.fosteriana allthough normally it shows a bit more colour under the leaves; but if its grown shady then that could account for it,Vr.fost, is quite variable as a species and if x self you willget a number of variants,I did once have the green form and would like to get it again,in any case i would be inclined to label the plant as such and put a ?behind the name,part of the problem also is that people like me may cross 2 totally different forms of Vr.fost, together and finish up with a different clone alltogether but it is still a Vr.fosteriana,

Thank you all for the responses, I am glad I can give it a name now.

Still it is a mistery where it comes from, there is not a great passion for bromeliads here in Europe, I can hardly imagine somebody growing a vriesea from seed here and this been sold in a common nursery, but it must be so.

Tomas

hi Tomas ,its me again, i have had a look at your home page,your phtos etc,must say its all very nice you grow a lot of plants that i used to grow ,and i just loved the big Aroid in flower (with Nicky)i was into Aroids in a very big way as well as Callethea's.but now its all broms,but i just thought i would commend you on what you have done,its beautifull mate.

Hi Guys

The first photo as agreed is Vr. fosteriana (green form).

Splinter's plant I feel is possibly a Vr. fosteriana x platynema or reverse as it looks very similar to plants I have of this crossing.

My Vr. ensiformis x fosteriana shows a mauve hue across the leaves & quite reddish on the underside, the glyphs are also very red/brown on my plant not green as in Splinter's plant. I do have plants growing in both very bright light & shade with minimal variation, still showing the red/brown colouring & reddish hue. Also this cross only grows to about half the size of my Vr. fosteriana's & I grow both in the same area side by side.

Splinter, post a flower spike when next it flowers, it's the only way to be sure.

Pinkbroms

well hello Ross, yes i agree with the colour of Ensiformis x fosteriana as you have it ,the flower spike on that plant shows red as well from the ensiformis,and i do think you are correct about the cross of splinters plant

Hi Jacob,

thank you for your kind words, I like most of the tropical plants, but especially palms, orchids and bromeliads, but it is not easy to find tank bromeliads here in Europe, so my collection is still small, also not all will grow here in our harsh climate.

I must say I really like your foliage vrieseas, these are not only beautiful, but also very original and distinctive, let me compliment with you.

Tomas

Hi Tomas thank you for your kind remarks,considering the size europian brom nurseries i would have thought that it would not be difficult to get some tank type broms,however its years ago since i left the Netherlands and their export policies may have changed,so you may have to travel to;Germany,Belgium or Holland and bring them back yourself,but even here we still do a lot of waiting and searching trying to get that special plant ,Jack

Hi Jack, you are right, the Hollander produce them by billions, flower vrieseas, guzmanias and some aechmeas, you can get them nearly all visiting just two or three of the main websites, a kind of a plant one can buy in any nursery, put it on his table and watch the flower spike to fade away, than toss it in the trash cane, that's what normaly people do as they do not know how to grow them. Btw, I have some of the vrieseas and they are not as easy to flower again! Not so much interesting for a bromeliad collector. I recently found some of the foliage vrieseas and bought them without hesitating even if they were badly damaged, have never seen them again since than.

Tomas

Hi Tomas ,yes well even here some plants are that way ,you buy what there is or some one else does and it could be years before you see the next one,thats what got me into breeding plants in the first place,i could not by it so you try to produce it yourself,bye mate