Thanks to Derek Butcher:

Racinaea crispa (Baker) M.A.Spencer & L.B.Smith, Phytologia 74: 153. 1993.
BASIONYM: Guzmania crispa Baker, J. Bot. London 25:173. 1887.
SYN.: Tillandsia crispa (Baker) Mez.

Desc from JBS 1982 p167-9 as var tustii a variety not accepted See also R. undulifolia
PLANT: stemless, producing many offshoots at the base, flowering when only 10¬-15 cm high, seldom higher.
LEAVES: many, densely rosu1ate in a sub-bulbous rosette of up to 3 cm in diameter. LEAF SHEATHS: large, spoonlike, distinct, up to 3 cm long and 1.5 cm wide, dark, leather-brown, with dark wine-red spots on the upper part, both sides densely lepidote. LEAF BLADES: 5-10 cm long, 3-5 mm wide, narrow, involute, with strongly undulate margins, tapering into a subulate, recurved tip, dark green to dark-reddish brown, with wine-red markings or stripes, both sides lepidote, shorter or as long as the inflorescence. INFLORESCENCE SCAPE: very slender, erect or slightly curved.
SCAPE BRACTS: imbricate, subfoliate, the basal ones with a long blade, the upper ones transform gradually into the floral bracts, olive-green to brownish, sparsely lepidote. INFLORESCENCE: mostly simple, horizontally oriented to slightly decurved, up to 4 cm long, 2-2.5 cm wide, at anthesis, truncate at the apex (shape of the inflorescence rectangular,).
RHACHIS: visible, slender, somewhat geniculate, flattened, brown¬-lepidote, internodes about 3 cm long.
FLORAL BRACTS: horizontally spreading to recurved, boat-shaped, somewhat inflated, 1-1.2 cm long, 0.5 cm wide at the base (with the base covering the rhachis), lemon-yellow or orange-red, densely and finely brown or white lepidote on both sides. FLOWERS: divergent, visible.
SEPALS: 5-7 mm long, asymmetric, ecarinate, coriaceous, acute, even sparsely lepidote. PETALS: exceeding the sepals with broad-rounded, strongly recurved, orange petals. STAMENS & PISTIL: deeply included.

Type. Purdie s n (holotype K, GH photo), Ocana, Norte de Santander, Colombia, 1845.

DISTRIBUTION. Epiphytic in forest, 300-1800 m alt, Panama to Colombia.
PANAMA. DARIEN: Cerro de Garagara, Sambu Basin, 7 Feb 1912, H. Pittier 5653 (US); Cerro Pire, Aug 1967, Duke & Elias 13786 (MO, US). COLOMBIA. NORTE DE SANTANDER: Ocana to Convencion, 20 Sep 1946, Foster 1744 (GH). ANTIOQUIA: Amalfi, 22 Sep 1884, Lehmann XXI11 (G, GH photo); El Yarumal, Nov 1891, Lehmann 5300 (K). VALLE: Piedra de Moler, Rio Digua, Aug 1943, Cuatrecasas 14919 (GH).

Also epiphytic in a humid mist-forest at an altitude of about 1800 m, near Altaquer, Dept. Narino, in the southern part of Colombia.

The plant is also cultivated in the Botanical Garden of the University of Heidelberg under the number 52043, collected in the same region of Colombia by F . Gruber, Fusagasuga, Colombia.

Detail from Baker Handbook of Bromeliaceae 1889
6. GUZMANIA CRISPA Baker in Journ. Bot. 1887, 178.
Leaves 80-40 in a dense rosette, linear from a dilated base, 2-3 in. long, thin, recurved, much crisped, 1/6th in. broad at the base of the blade. Peduncle 2-3 in. long; bract-leaves small, adpressed, imbricated. Flowers 6-15 in a dense distichous spike ½ -1 in. long; bracts green, broad ovate, minutely cuspidate, ¼ in. long. Calyx rigid, 1/6th in. long; sepals free to the base, oblong, obtuse, much imbri¬cated. Petals not seen. Capsule as long as the calyx.
Habitat New Granada ; Ocana, Purdie ! Antioquia, Lehmann !

Gonzer, thank you for pulling out the data.

Do you happen to ever grow this plant? And does it cope well with the high summer heat in Southern California? Oceanside, is probably moderated by proximity to the sea.

Thanks. From equatorial singapore.

I've tried on two occasions to grow it but it's habitat requires greenhouse conditions. Your conditions in Singapore should be ideal.

The pictures that I've seen don't show a very attractive plant. Do you find it attractive or just interesting?

What do you mean, not attractive, Nick? What's not to love about the ultimate bad hair day? (see link below)

In searching for an image, however, I came across another page that says it is a cloudforest plant that likes it shady, cool and humid. Singapore may be many things, but cool is not one of them. (see http://tillandsias.gardenwebs.net/ )

Lisa, I rarely venture East of the I-5 Freeway, much less Singapore. I take it it doesn't cool down there? That's true about it liking coolness coupled with humidity. The specimens I've seen grown in greenhouses were subject to the constant breeze of fans.
IMHO it is a beautiful plant, lots of soul!

Singapore would be west of I-5, Gonz. Waaaay west. ;-)

I haven't been there either, but my husband has. We're pretty used to constant warm humidity in Hawaii, but we have the trade winds to cool things down. He said it was like stepping off the plane into a sauna. Beads of perspiration shooting off his face like arrows, etc. You get the picture......

What a neat plant! Shame that Sydney doesn't do cloud forest very well either. Although with the weather at the moment, I wonder ...

Yeah, everything I've heard around here is basically climate controlled greenhouse for crispa. I (surprisingly) know better than kill one. I know some people grow it closer to the coast here, but heat seems to kill them pretty effectively. Cloud forest is not east of I-5 let alone east of I-15 here...my guess is that you could enjoy it for a couple of months in Singapore (but admittedly I am not too familiar with Singapore's specific micro-climates).

And I also vote for it being an elegant and cool plant. But I often consider the bizarre to be beautiful...
-andy

Your best chance is to try growing it from seed. I'm growing T biflora from seed and amazingly some have survived the summer heat after germinating last winter.

Yes, it is a very very nice plant that attracted my attention. One of the german nursery Ben's Jungle is offering it. Not sure if i want to risk it.. hence trying to establish the habitat. As for the temperatures here, in the 27 - 33 C year round with humidity 70 - 95%. It is a sauna on windless days.

BTW. Tillandsia dyeriana grows very well here, data suggests it is from the steamy lowlands of Ecuador.

Those in SF will have the right conditions for montane plants!

Greetings:

I grow a number of Panamanian and Ecuadoran racinaeas and find that all of them are quite water-quality sensitive and will crash and burn when frequently showered with unfiltered tap water. In particular Racinaea crispa!

Other than that, no special needs..very bright conditions, excellent ventilation and cork mounts - coupled with pure water with around 0-10 ppm TDS - seem to help them prosper. Full morning sunshine will bring out contrast colors on the leaves, particularly in the heavily maculate highland forms of R. spiculosa. I find that all of the species that I grow will reliably offset and flower every year and that older specimens of R. crispa can be quite handsome due in part to the fact that rosettes with spent infls. will stay intact for a couple years after flowering. The spent plants of other Racinaea species do appear to senesce and disintegrate quite a bit faster.

I have seen a couple of photos (retouched?) of R. crispa with orange and canary yellow infls., but mine has somewhat muddy yellow bracts coupled with distinct cross-banding on the very "frizzed" leaves. My R. pendulispica clone, however, produces spectacular, long, glossy, very branched bright orange infls. that look lacquered. IMO, this is only sp. in the genus that is commonly cultivated that produces truly showy infls although the plant itself is quite unremarkable.

BRgds,

J

Good information! I grow three species of Racinaea---crispa, pendulispica, and another unnamed one. All are vigorous and freely flowering growing asepiphytes on Ohia trees. R. crispa divides easily, but the keikis are slow growing if removed too early. R. pendulispica has long spikes and in flower now, with 4 keikis each. My conditions are elevation 1600 feet, rainfall 130 inches a year, and mixed sunlight. Temperatures range from 10 to 15 degrees F than Honolulu airport. So far ---no seeds!

Whereabouts are you, Alan? Ohia trees...... I'm guessing Big Island. Did you mean to say your temps are 10 to 15 degrees COOLER than HNL airport? I don't know anywhere in HI where it gets down to 10-15 F, not even on top of Mauna Kea! ;-)

Lisa.. I am on top of Tantalus...temps are 10 - 15 cooler than HNL airport, not 10-15 degrees F. We are coller because of the elevation and vegetation, si I am able to grow cooler orchids , vireyas, alocasias, and bromeliads. Ohias grow well, as the ridge is Puu Ohia instead of Tantalus as it was renamed from the Hawaiian. I try to grow most of my plants on trees, but I need more big trees!!!

Ahh, okay. Yes, Tantalus is a great area. So close, and yet so far in many ways. I used to work at the back of Manoa valley, and even there the temps were so much more pleasant than down in the flats! Waimanalo has its charms, but I miss Manoa.