Never having seen or owned any of the plants you name, or gone to their store (I'm jealous!), I can only guess that if Blushing Giant is a hybrid (probably it is). They may have followed the same procedure in crossing whatever the parents plants were but some differences in the method and/or the parent plants resulted in a different looking more mature plant. Or... it could have been mislabeled, which wouldn't surprise me (see my long reply to your other post).

My other thought is that Gonzer will have a good guess, I bet!

Fortunately for you, there are other Tillandsia sellers in your area, though it can mean a long drive for you.

(The sound of head meeting desk echoes mysteriously through the void.)

Oy vey, I must have switched this post with the e-mail I sent to Rainforest Flora yesterday, lol. That's embarrassing! No doubt someone reading this post wondered, " 'your place?' Whose?"

Yeah, Blushing Giant is a hybrid. It's parents are Streptophylla and Seleriana. Pricey, yet my most cherished (and finicky) little one. At its best it is the prettiest Tillandsia I have ever seen in bloom. I'm sure other people have their opinions, but this one is mine.

Thanks again, Debby. =)

Thanks for the input, Gonzer. I'd like to take your word as official, but my inner feeling remains unconvinced. In my experience, Selerenia type hybrids have a tendency to retain water VERY well. Watering in cool weather is a hassle; unless it's a super quick dunk, it dries so slowly I often need to help things along. (\I probably shouldn't water it as often as I do, but it keeps growing and growing.

The plant in question, on the other hand, dries up in a snap. It's leave's feel, shape, and overall texture doesn't compare to the first. I am aware their will be differences, and I know this because I have tendency to keep two of every one of my favorite plants. But while they may not all look alike to their doubles, the pairs always have enough similarities in feel, watering habits, and other small details that I can tell that, yes, these are in fact the same ones. This plant's close resemblance to an ehlersiana and its assorted hybrids don't help my gut feeling either.

Hi everyone.

Kei Seya - It's very important when buying any brom to try and find out what conditions it was grown under because often the plant you buy may look very different to the plant you have seen elsewhere.

Climatic conditions and the degree of light a plant was grown under can often result in enormous variations to both shape and foliage colour.

I bought a pup of Vr. guttata once, based on what I had seen in a picture of this plant grown in a northern warmer state. When it arrived I couldn't believe it was a pup from a similar plant, but having previously dealt with the grower before, and having found her very honest I accepted what she said about the effects of light on this plant, even though I couldn't believe there could be so much difference.

Sure enough the new pup (when grown under full morning sun as she had described) eventually (when mature) achieved the same darker colours like the one I had seen in the picture originally; so it pays to do your "homework"; it cost you nothing to ask questions.

This is the picture which prompted me to buy the pup in the first place.

......and this was the colour of the pup I received.

All the best, Nev.

True. And I did ask about the conditions for growing their Blushing Giants. My e-mails always went unanswered, so I assumed it was something of a trade secret.

Nice Guttata. Pretty pretty. :) I bought my Blushing Giant because I saw the pic on RFI's site, too. The plant I got then was VERY similar to the one on site, and they showed me a second one to choose from which looked slightly different but had enough similarities for me to identify them as the same plant. The leaves were soft, like those possessed by an extremely well watered Streptophylla (I water mines every day.) The leaves, when old/damaged/or dry, crinkle in a certain noticeable way, and there are often large spaces between the base of the leaves. The base of the leaves also often have a dark cast the closer they are to the bottom.

Perhaps my original photo isn't as sharp as I'd like to be (understatement) so I'd like to use other people's photos to illustrate. This photo of bertoxvx'd tumbler page shows a B.G. in fair detail. While my B.G. doesn't have such long leaves, I can see enough here to tell that they are indeed Blushing Giants. Same springy leaves, coloration, contours of leaves from tip down to the base. Grown (fairly) right side up the Blushing Giant will produce this shape. Positioned upside down and the leaves will try to point in the direction of the sun, sticking close to the body while the tips gradually bend over backwards in their quest to see the light. The result resembles something closer akin to a pine cone found on the floor. Not cute at all.

When I received my second Giant a few months later I immediately had
doubts. It's leaves were sturdy and fairly rigid; they weren't springy, nor were their color anything as dark as the above. I thought it resembled more an ehlersiana type. Later I would find I was right. This is what my second one looks exactly like in a detailed photo courtesy of wildsky.net.


This is a Tillandsia Ty. Maybe it is hard to see, but there is hardly any open space between the leaves. It's leaves are VERY numerous and long, quite rigid at the base, and they terminate in easily sun burnt reddish/purple tassels. Its root base is a bit of a mess; about a dozen small leaves intermingle in perfect disharmony with the roots, so unlike the Blushing Giant (clean; no leaves obstruct the root base.) Growing this plant upside down or right side up doesn't seem to influence its shape in any noticeable form. I guess they are similar in appearance, but to me they are too different to be confused for the same.