They are exquisite Bob. Mine here was about 10 when he bloomed in 2004. The red bracts facing upward kept their color longer than you'd think possible.
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Very nice ! First time I've seen one blossom,and was wondering if it will throw an offset or not. Or is seed propagation the way to get more plants?. We were thinking of finding a nursery that specializes in this apecies,and maybe obtaining 2 or 3 for future plantings at the bbg. Would like about a two foot wide size,if available.Do you know of any out your way ? Bob

Sure do Bob! Rancho Soledad Nursery has large 2-3 gallon 'rubra' for sale for around $35 and up. These are cell-cultured and are so much hardier and beefier than seed grown. I've grown both seed grown and RSN's and there is no comparison. Being a botanical house I'm sure you would get their discount. Oh yes, these plants are not small seedlings (4"-10"), they are BIG!(18" and up)

What is "RSN", gonzer?

Seed is very slow. Alcantarea imperialis (it's been moved from Vriesea) pups differently than most broms too, so I don't think you'll get a pup after it blooms. They tend to produce tiny grass-like pups when they are still young. You can pop them off and start them when they're only a couple inches tall-- an exception to the "one third the size of the mother plant" rule. If left on, they usually don't mature, but if you take them off and grow them each one in turn will produce its own grassy pups almost immediately. You can get a whole bunch that way while they're still small, but once the plant gets more mature it stops producing pups.

I think it depends on what variety you have too. I had one clone that produced tons of little pups, and a couple of others that rarely did. I've only had one bloom, and I'm trying to recall if there was a pup afterwards-- I don't think so.

Lisa, I think you may have persuaded me to overcome my fears and take the pup off my Vr.Imperialis! It doesn't seem to have grown at all in the last year so I havn't much to lose, especially since I understand they take forever to mature! My mature plant is only 3 years old, I hope to see that bloom, but the pup, I don't think so!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Lisa, RSN is just the abbreviation for Rancho Soledad Nursery.
The hair pups aren't worth the effort and time to grow out here. They have one growth speed - waytooslow. Sometimes I've been blessed with a normal sized pup off a dying plant, but those instances are too far and few in between.

Very interesting info on an unusual 'pupper'.Thank you all.
I'll be checking out the RSN site,thanks gonz. Bob

That pup looks big enough to come off, kew tip. It probably won't do much of anything if you leave it. Just take a sharp knife and cut as close to the mother as you can.

Yeah, they're slow, but not as slow as seeds!

Check out Rain Forest Flora in Torrance, CA.
They offer two varieties of the plant.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rain Forest Flora

Rancho Soldedad just received a shipment [presumably from Hilo] of some more A. imperialis. Until now, most of the "old" 5 gallons they had left still had severe frost damage that they haven't fully removed. I take old leaves off by splitting down the middle and taking the whole leaf off. They do not.

I saw those last week Scott. As fast as Jerry can get them in they're out the door!