Hoo boy......... those mottled leaves could come from a number of sources. I'm going to guess some sort of Aechmea x Cryptanthus hybrid?

The pattern and the teeth remind me of my Nidularium. But then again I know very little about this sort of thing.

My guess is a bigeneric as well. Nidularium does seem to be in there - but you have mentioned working with them, so I had a clue already.
Ummm...Billbergia? x Nidularium? ??

K

The pollen parent is Nidularium 'Francois Spae' but I see almost none of the seed parent in the children. The leaves are mottled like dad. They are also soft like a Pitcairnia seedling, but obviously the seed parent isn't a Pitcairnia.

Dad:

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Another pic with just 2 of the seedlings and the one seedling gives a tiny hint.

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Some red Billbergia? Although is there a hint of something with linear patterns in there?

The reddish color of the one on the right could be from a Neo. Or............ something else. The way that one leaf is kind of pinched in at the base is making me think of something like Bromelia scarlatina or Ae. tayoensis. I do like the venation on that one too. Crypt beuckeri would have fit all of those things, but that's too obvious.

I am with Kez, I reckon there is a bit of Bill in there!

I'm going with mummy Neo....except I can't put a finger on the striations or the blushing base colour ?..I keep thinking 'Yang' as one seedling is getting that rose blush and they look similar shape to a young 'Yin'...but I'm probably a zillion miles off haha.
Cheers
Graeme

Graeme, I did just recently get some seeds sprouted from Nid innocentii crossed with Neo Yin pollen. I don't have particularly high hopes for that cross but I'll grow out a few for a while and see.

Mom, Neo Inca

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Neo Inca grown real hard (the best way to do it) and mounted up high so you won't be tempted to put any pollen on it when it flowers:
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Lisa, you mentioned the venation and I never gave it much notice but, as usual, you have the eye for this stuff. The venation is getting much more pronounced. Maybe that and the interesting underside leaf color will make this one (or one of the others that look similar) a keeper.

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Y'know, I still think it looks like it has some Crypt in it. I never would have guessed Nid and Neo, particularly a marmorated Neo. Ah well, you live and learn, but I just can't figure out where those pinched leaf bases could have come from. Neither parent has that. And look at the shape of the tip of the inner leaves. Very Crypty!

The venation shows up particularly well on the soft leaf. It will be interesting to see if it maintains that feature once it hardens up and matures.

I'm pretty sure of the parentage. I did the cross both ways and I can't tell the difference between the two. I've had some other strange results with Inca in bigeneric crosses. I didn't use it much since I don't really like it but it does seem to cross with everything so I may have to push the envelope a little more with it and see what I can get.

Here is Nid. 'Francois Spae' x Neo. 'Inca'. I've got quite a few that look just like this one which I'm giving away. The thinness of the leaves on this cross kind of worries me. This one isn't too thin, but I've got one that is just too thin and it probably won't last for much longer. The color on this is mostly on the underside of the leaves but that does seem to change as it gets bigger.

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