Hi everyone.

Carol - Your plant could be Aechmea 'Mardi Gras' which is a cultivated variety of the species Aechmea gamosepala. There are two of these cultivated varieties,'Mardi Gras' and Lucky' Stripes' with Mardi Gras having green leaf margins, and the margins on Lucky Stripes being creamy/white.

The cream/white colour varies greatly on both these plants with some having very little, to examples like yours which has so much, the plant is almost an albino.

You will know for certain when it flowers as the flowers are the same as the species gamosepala which also has the common name of "matchstick plant" because the flowers remind people of small matches.

This the flower on 'Lucky Stripes' which is almost identical to the one on 'Mardi Gras' and often called the "Matchstick Plant"

There are other variegated bromeliads as well but as this is one of the most commonly grown garden brom's, this would be my guess. See: http://registry.bsi.org/?genus=AECHMEA&id=334#334 and http://registry.bsi.org/?genus=AECHMEA&id=348#348

All the best, Nev.

Nev, thanks for the reply. When I was out in the yard today, I compared it to a big patch (I know that's not the right word) of Martin, just to be sure, and it's definitely not that. I know you're right about the bloom - that will reveal all, won't it. I'm looking forward to it. I do have some basic, plain-Jane green matchstick broms so I have seen the blooms. Question for you: when IDing a variegated, does it matter if the white is on the outside and the green on the inside, or vice-versa? On mine, the "albo" is in the middle and the green is on the "marginata". That would have to match the match, right? It doesn't change within the same cultivar, I don't think.

Another thing to note about my plant: the leaves are very long and narrow and don't vary with sunlight or time. The length and width are consistent on every mature leaf - approximately 2.5 cm wide and much longer than the average brom. I've moved that bad boy around the yard and it hasn't had any effect on the leaf appearance.

I'm on bloom watch with this plant as it is getting to be the right age. It hasn't bloomed or pupped, yet. Keeping my fingers crossed that I'll get more than one pup because I really like using this one in brom bowls. The creamy white gives a great balance against bright colors. The eye needs a rest for a good display, I think.

Carol

Hi everyone.

Carol – The plant you
speak of as ‘Martin’ is a Neoregelia whereas the ”matchstick plants” I
mentioned are Aechmeas and there is a vast difference in the inflorescence of each,
that’s why I said, “You will know for certain when it flowers”. By this I meant
firstly, you will know for certain whether it’s an Aechmea or a Neoregelia as
well as (secondly) possibly knowing if it’s one of the Ae. gamosepala cultivated
varieties.

In my final comment above
I said, "There are other variegated
bromeliads as well but as this is one of the most commonly grown garden
brom's, this would be my guess.";
and a “guess” is all that it is at this stage.

Before I answer your other
questions you say the leaves are 2.5cm wide; but I would also like to know how
long they are in (cm. or inches) Secondly; what are the leaf edges like, are they smooth or
do they have small or large spines on edges?

You say, "The leaves
are very long and narrow and don't vary with sunlight or time". This rules
out my other theory that it may have been grown in too much shade. Another
thing that will make leaves long and thin is too much Nitrogen, what if any
fertiliser does it get? Normally if it were the nitrogen, the foliage would be
more darkish/green, but as your foliage is almost albino, maybe this result
doesn't apply here.

Now for your other
question where you ask, “when IDing a variegated, does it matter if the white
is on the outside and the green on the inside, or vice-versa?”, and the short
answer is "yes" it does matter. The one with the white margins is known as “marginata”
and in your case is albo-marginated because the margins are white. The one with
the green margins is simply called “variegata”.

To complicate things even
further, because many variegated plants are sometimes unstable you can have an
albo-marginated plant which can produce pups which have reverted back to variegated
plants and vice versa.

Here is an example of an unstable little variegated Neo
Meyendorffii with several different types of leaf markings all originating from
the one plant.

The nine most common types
of leaf patterns are listed in the book
“Growing Bromeliads” third edition By The Bromeliad Society of Australia Inc.,
the subject of variegation is explained in great detail with line drawings of
the various leaf variegations. This is a great little book and full of useful
information; if you don’t already have it, it is a “must” for all keen bromeliad
growers. http://www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/Growing-Bromeliads/Bromeliad-Society-of-Austr/9780731812509

The names of the leaf types are as follows with illustrations below:

1 Marginata

2 Variegata

3 Striata

4 Lineatum

5 Medio picta

6 Paxianum

7 Bivittatus

8 Tricolor

9 Quadricolor

I hope this information
hasn’t confused you too much

Finally, is there any
chance of a picture of your big patch of ‘Martin’, I’ve never seen pictures of
garden grown clumps of it before and would be very interested to see one.

Carol, I like the
questions you ask very much as they keep “the grey matter” in this old head
active as I research info for answers – please keep them coming.

All the best, Nev

funny, but i think i saw just that variety and was wondering what it was...in Miami nursery. it has rather narrow long leaves and is very elegant somehow ;).