I have some little round ionanthas that look like that, too. It's a sweet little ball of happy (I assume it's happy). It seems that there are dozens of different shapes and sizes that go under the name ionantha. Paul Isley in video noted in another thread had a lot of different Mexican ones. I'm glad one picture you posted shows it being held, that gives us a good idea of the size.

Thanks, Debby!

Can you happen to post some pictures of your happy ionanthas! I own a few myself, however they all seem to share similar characteristics (including more plump leaf shape)! The one from the video seems to have very flat leaves, so I thought that it might not be an ionantha!

Here is the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gNQuPom_fI

The tillandsia makes an appearance in the last fourth of the video! She is a fairly avid plant collector, and the other two tillandsia she is holding are different species (including a distinct ionantha, causing me to believe that the plant in question may be a different species).

Thanks, again!

You have quite the collection of ionanthas! I knew that ionantha is a very large category, but I did not know that appearances could vary so much between them! The first picture indeed looks very similar to the one in the video!

I've been avoiding ionanthas because I currently own a handful of them and believe that to be the end all for ionanthas, but your response has educated me more on the diversity of tillandsia ionantha! (I love how abundant your collection is and how you display them!)

Thank you for your enthusiasm! If you have "enough" ionanthas for now, beware: they pup easily and you'll have more soon! Among all mine, they are the most likely to bloom and then pup. I think this year, when I mail order, I'll concentrate on fragrant ones. Last year it was funckianas, heteromorpha and juncea.

I have two other displays, under lights, a mix of plants in a variety of thrift-store cups, shot glasses and bows, and more than a dozen hanging in a south-facing window. This is why, in a other thread, I indicated it's hard for me to get more... it's a case of want vs need :) However, at a local nursery (the easiest one for me to get to here in Albuquerque, called Rehm's) the woman who runs the little green house with more specialized/delicate plants has become interested in Tillandsias and I bought 3 there yesterday that didn't have (a black and a green forest tenufolia, and an andreana). She's learning fast and taking very good care of her plants. It was hard to buy only 3!

She was also selling what I recall may have been a capitata (everything was marked, I just don't recall) that was "enhanced"-- which means the tips of the green plant had been dyed redish to make it look more inviting to the uninitiated. She said she wouldn't buy them again as she knows now that that isn't what a plant about to bloom really looks like. I expect the plants will be okay (new growth will be green), but the wholesaler (somewhere in California) isn't to be trusted :(

I'll keep checking back with her; buying from her certainly saves postage! I also bought some scented geraniums as she had a big variety.

Looks like it could be T. Ionantha 'Ron'.

exeucf10, I hope you're right. I looked it up and Rainforest Flora has one picture of it in bloom (http://www.rainforestflora.com/store/images/10324/full/) and it is gorgeous! While this winter quite a few of my ionanthas have reddened and bloomed, not that particular one -- yet. Also I just noted in one of my replies above I said I had 2" fluorescent grow and cool-white lights" but should have said "about two-foot-long" bulbs (maybe 18 inches is more accurate; available in places like Walmart).