Nidularium rutilans coming into flower.
This looks like it’s going to be a great plant, hopefully it pups well!
Bromeliaceae
View Larger Scientific Name - Quesnelia lateralis
Common Name - None
Place of Origin - Brazil
Status - Not known
The genus quesnelia is one of my favorite genera in the bromeliad family, and with flowers like this it’s easy to see why. Many quesnelias have beautiful blue or purple colored flowers, paired with vivid colored bracts that range from yellow to hot pink.
In my opinion, Quesnelia lateralis is one of the more interesting species, due to its interesting habit of flowering from the side, or laterally, giving it its specific name. If the plant only flowers laterally, it will survive and continue to grow, if it flowers from the center (terminally) it will die like other bromeliads, but will produce pups. Sometimes the plants will flower from the side and from the center at the same time.
I’ve had this plant for a little over a year and this is the first time it’s flowered for me. I got it from a friend in California along with some other quesnelia’s that also flowered around the same time as this one. This plant is about 15 inches tall and slightly wider, with shiny green leaves that are banded with silver underneath. The leaves have small spines along the edges and a short terminal spine that isn’t too deadly, thankfully. It’s an easy to grow plant, I give mine full sun until about 12 PM and then it gets filtered shade the rest of the day, water it about once a week and it grows just fine.
This one would probably look great mounted or in a hanging basket, especially when in flower. Hopefully it clumps well so I can have a nice flowering clump in a couple of years.
