Strange Wonderful Things
Rare and exotic plants
| Home |
Strange Wonderful Things Rare and exotic plants |
|
|---|
|
This is a close look at the delightful Quesnelia seideliana. This unusual pineapple relative makes beautiful, sky-blue flowers, which is a very rare color for Bromeliads. The plant is found only in a small part of Brazil's Atlantic Forest, which is threatened by human development. Fortunately it is easy to grow, tolerating a wide range of temperatures and lighting conditions. It is very uncommon in cultivation and seldom seen for sale.
In the wild, it grows as an epiphyte on tree branches, and also in the ground. It grows to about 1½ feet tall, forming an attractive rosette of leaves, shaped somewhat like Aechmea. Over time, it makes a large family of offsets, which you may separate if you wish. The tip of each leaf has a spine, but you can snip it off if you find it bothersome. I leave them on. The flower spikes are about 1½ feet long and appear in summer for me. Each spike has about 2 dozen blooms that are around an inch long. They start out purplish before turning light blue when they open, sometimes with a lovely turquoise tint for me (which might depend on the temperature). I don't know what pollinates them in the wild - possibly birds.
It's happiest when grown above 40⁰F, but it reportedly can survive several degrees of frost. It can take anything from full sun down to bright shade, but i usually aim for about a half day of sun. You can either mount it to something and grow it as an epiphyte or simply grow it in soil. It grows well in a small pot in most well-draining soil mixes. A good mix is about 2 parts potting soil, 1 part perlite and 1 part small bark. It's fairly drought tolerant, but i try to keep the soil evenly moist most of the time. To make it feel like it's home in the rain forest, you can keep some water in the "tank" of leaves, but it's not necessary if growing in soil. Overall it's a pretty tough plant and is rarely bothered by pests.
Photos used with permission of Timm Stolten
|
| Home |
Strange Wonderful Things Rare and exotic plants |
|
|---|---|---|
| Entire site Copyright 2003-2025 by Strange Wonderful Things, except as noted | ||
