Here's another Ray can't remember the full name of, if he ever knew it. He
*thinks* David Poole might have id'd it at some point but if so, it's
obviously floated out of Ray's head! It's very rare in UK is all we know!
http://i22.tinypic.com/s42806.jpg

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

It is Pitcairnia bergii; a native of Ecuador. Unlike most bromeliads
(members of the pineapple family) it is tuberous rooted and naturally
deciduous during the drier months of the year, resting as a fat, spiny
bud at or just below the soil surface. My plant enters a dormant
phase in summer and is allowed to remain virtually bone dry. By late
August, new shoots start to grow away quite quickly and flower spikes
emerge within 8 weeks. The scarlet, tubular flowers are pollinated by
hummingbirds and the entire spike has evolved to present the flowers
at the perfect angle for the birds to do their duty. Growth
continues during the winter months, but our low light levels cause the
leaves to become rather drawn and untidy. I split my original plant a
while back and successfully overwintered one half outside last year,
although the rather soft leaves were popular with the slugs. It went
only partially dormant this summer - no doubt due to the rainy cool
weather, but this did not affect flowering. It's a curiosity rather
than a thing of beauty, but rather fun to grow nonetheless.

On 30/10/07 19:16, in article
, "Dave Poole"
wrote:

It is Pitcairnia bergii; a native of Ecuador. Unlike most bromeliads
(members of the pineapple family) it is tuberous rooted and naturally
deciduous during the drier months of the year, resting as a fat, spiny
bud at or just below the soil surface. My plant enters a dormant
phase in summer and is allowed to remain virtually bone dry. By late
August, new shoots start to grow away quite quickly and flower spikes
emerge within 8 weeks. The scarlet, tubular flowers are pollinated by
hummingbirds and the entire spike has evolved to present the flowers
at the perfect angle for the birds to do their duty. Growth
continues during the winter months, but our low light levels cause the
leaves to become rather drawn and untidy. I split my original plant a
while back and successfully overwintered one half outside last year,
although the rather soft leaves were popular with the slugs. It went
only partially dormant this summer - no doubt due to the rainy cool
weather, but this did not affect flowering. It's a curiosity rather
than a thing of beauty, but rather fun to grow nonetheless.


Many, many thanks, David. It's something of a rarity and apparently there's
only one other in the Plant Finder. It's another of those "something
somebody gave Ray" things! Perhaps it was you?
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'