Hi J,
That first one looks a lot like Aechmea eurycorymbus to me, but I know there's a bit of confusion with the old Gravisia plants. Uncle Derek goes into a fair bit of detail about it in the linked page. There's a key at the bottom of the page which could help too.

I really like the Crab Claw one - haven't seen that before.
Cheers, Todd

Here is a link that might be useful: Uncle Derek Says

Hi J

The one called crab claw is nice! Looks like some sort of A.zebrina hybrid?

Below crab claw is A.rubens?

Is that a mexican sunflower in the rubens pic? If so it can become a terrible weed...zap it while you can..

Cheers

Dennis

J,

Your last one is Ananas Tricolor, I'm jealous mine fruited with a red pinapple and I was looking forward to removing a large haul of offsets from the pineapple but none arrived and the pineapple just rotted away.

Rick

I'd guess the first pic is Aechmea blanchetiana. I always thought 'crab claw' was Heliconia? The inflorescence reminds me of a big terrestrial Tillandsia.

J,
My guess is the same as Gonzer for the first pic.
Blanchetiana is normally very orange but in shaded conditions with little sun the leaves can be green. I think the flower spike is a dead giveaway - red stem with lots of orange flowers.

Was the bloom originally brighter on the Aechmea Zebrina(crab claw)?

I also think the first one is Ae. eurycorymbus. We've had one or two discussions of the Gravisia complex here before, and they can be very confusing. First photo in the link below shows both blanchetiana and eurycorymbus for size and spike comparison. It's a bit hard to see, but there are definitely two different species in the pic.

I'm still not clear on the difference between rubens and mulfordii, but #3 looks like one of those two.

#2 could possibly be Ae. cucullata, manzenaresiana, romeroi, or something along those lines. It must have had colorful bracts when it first bloomed, but they're gone now that it's faded.

I don't think you're supposed to eat the variegated pineapples. Not that you can't, but commercial pineapples are bred for flavor, these are just for looks. Isn't this one Ananas comosus var. bracteatus?

Here is a link that might be useful: Ae. eurycorymbus?

Hi jmsider,

I have two questions for you:

1. Could we have a picture of the underside of the leaves on "crab claw"?

2. On the same plant, is that a long stolon leading to a pup on the right of the main plant?

All the best, Nev.

Hi Guys

#1 Definately Aechmea eurycorymbus

#2 Aechmea zebrina, the others mentioned by Lisa generally don't have the heavy banding on the leaves as the plant in the photo has.

#3 Aechmea rubens

#4 Ananas Tricolor, was Ananus bracteatus var. tricolor

Ananas comosus var. bracteatus is the non variegated form, large plant with red/green foliage.

Pinkbroms

Hey all!

Thanks for all the responses and heaps of info.

I'm currently in tx so everyone will have to wait a week for photos. I may even have some pics from about 10 years ago.

Why yes those are Mexican sunflowers and they grow about 30 feet tall if they are not combated regularly.

All the plants are my fathers so I'll ask about the crab and the rest of 'em.

That first plant claims to come from Cuba and is very rare with just the provider and a few others being allowed to raise it. I'll have to check for pups and take some for my personal collection.

Once again thanks and I look foward to discussing the many wonderful varities out there.

J