Nev, there is a B. amoena 'ED McWilliams'. 2 Bills don't make an Ed! ;-)

There is a photo of it on FCBS, but judging by the strappy green foliage, that one must have been grown in deep shade. Grown in good light, it should look just like yours.

Here is a link that might be useful: B. Ed McWilliams

Nice photos of a well-grown bill, Nev.

Lisa - I know we discussed this billbergia in an old thread, re Sander's plant. Do you think 'Ed McWilliams' is the same plant as in Derek's photo of Bill. amoena 'Red Form' on FCBS? I've been umming and arring whether to change my labels to Mr Ed.

K

Jeez, Kerry, I can't tell from Derek's photo whether that's amoena v. rubra or Ed McW. He doesn't say what var. of amoena it is, and you can't see the form or what the leaf tips are doing, which is the best indicator. Do you have a photo of yours?

According to the registry, Mr. Ed is a cv. of amoena v. amoena, but it is very close in appearance to a. v. rubra. Both are stoloniferous and smooth with no scurf to speak of. The main difference that I can see is that Ed's foliage has an arching habit, like a fountain, whereas v. rubra forms an upright vase-like rosette. That's not just growing conditions. Also the colors on Eddy are more saturated (assuming he gets enough light), in fact the leaf tips are kind of prone to turning hot pink and curling up. Not as tough a bird as ol' Ruby. The inflorescence looks about the same, but Ed's seems a bit smaller and much more likely to abort (at least for me).

One of these days I'll have to see if I can get a pic of the two side by side. I got my Ed McW from Bird Rock, but I notice they're calling it amoena v. amoena (Red) now. Wonder why? Their pic is pretty accurate:

Here is a link that might be useful: B. amoena v. amoena (Red) - Bird Rock

Thanks for that extra info, Lisa.
Here are some photos of mine, and like Nev's, they are flowering now - although these photos were taken of previous years' flowering. The colour varies slightly, but they are all the same variety.
I only grow the one kind, so I don't have anything to compare it with first hand.
That is strange that Bird Rock changed their name - maybe someone has snuck in another reclassification?

I think I'm still leaning towards Mr Ed, but then a horse is a horse, of course, of course!

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K

Kerry - I WANT ONE!

The Ed McWilliams shown on FSBS has the purple coloration on the tips extending further into the petals than Nev's plant is showing