Monster yes, biggest? Mmm...my rauhii in bloom might give it a shot. At least for most massive. That's a meter stick in front.

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Yep, that's a bigg'n alright, HDD.

But... I have seen a much bigger one in flower than that - T.krukoffiana. The link shows a photo of one an Aussie grower named Mike Symmons grew and flowered in just seven years. It's not a great pic, but I saw it in the 'flesh', and it was over 3 metres (10 feet) high!

I believe T. grandis is another whopper.

K

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:507009}}

Sorry, Gonz. We were posting at the same time.

Very nice rauhii there - and huge! (I want one!)

K

Have you seen the cross that Rainforest has of ferreryae x bulbosa? $$$$!
hdd, that guy holds a lot of leaves, that's for sure.
Kerry, that krukoffiana bloom looks like something that should be hanging from a ceiling in a mansion.

That's funny, I have my krukoffiana in a basket hanging from a tree. It's been there for a year and quite happy. I looked into removing it from the basket a while back and it was quite latched on. I suspect that I'll eventually take it out from the tree and set the basket on the ground somewhere and pile rocks around it. Aren't they saxicolous?

Bromadams - I also grow T. krukoffiana. It is a pup from the flowering one in the above photo - which produced many juvenile pups pre-flowering. I wasn't sure what conditions to grow mine in. It had a really long stolon which I had to cut most off to fit in a pot with a chunky mix. Then it rooted at the base, above the mix level, so I removed it and planted it in a mound of pine bark at the base of a tree in quite bright light. That was about 2 or 3 years ago. It is firmly rooted in the ground, but is only about 30cm (1 foot) high - just a tad bigger than when I first got it. I am going to start feeding it to give it a move along, but I'm not holding my breath. I have seen a couple of much larger ones in other collections, grown in pots with usual brom mix.

I see that there is also T. krukoffiana var. piepenbringii, recently shown in fcbs 'What's New'.

I found this info which you might find interesting:

"Tillandsia krukoffiana var. piepenbringii is new for Peru, and it is astonishing that such a big tillandsia has been overlooked until now. The reason may be that only a few botanists, not even the famous botanist A. Weberbauer, have visited this region. As a result, we were able to find so many interesting bromeliads. It is worth noting that T. krukoffiana (= var. krukoffiana) is not listed for Peru. It grows far down in Bolivia on the eastern slopes of the Andes in the warm and humid southern Yungas as a terrestrial. The var. piepenbringii, on the other hand, grows in the dry and semidesert region of the western slopes of the Andes. The distance between the type and the variety is more than 2,000 km. Further research with more material may be needed to determine if this variety can be advanced to species status."

The above info is a brief extract from a Tillandsia dvd put together by Derek Butcher. The dvd includes many photos (incuding those of herbarium specimens), and documents on all of the described species. It also includes the related genera Catopsis and Racinae, the silvery vrieseas, and till hybrids AND those classified as the "too hard basket" ones. It is comprehensive and highly recommended.
GONZER - if you don't have it, contact Unc D. I paid $10 for mine, and it is sooooo worth more than that!

Mine is maroon-ish underleaf, green on top - and is (I think!) the kruk v kruk, therefore terrestrial in habitat. If yours is all green Bromadams, then it might be the other one, and therefore saxicolous in habitat ("on steep rock walls....NW Peru") - and the rocks around your basket on ground would probably suit it well (?)

ummm...sorry you asked?

Cheers,
Kerry

Thanks for the long story Kerry. I don't know what variety mine is, but I do give it a fair amount of sun and fertilizer and it seems to be growing fairly fast.

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Another monster inflo on T. extensa. 3 metres + leaning on a Didierea trollii.

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edited to add: 2 metres, not 3.