Thursday, January 31, 2013

Aechmea weilbachii forma pendula

Aechmea weilbachii forma pendula is one of the few bromeliad species that has truly pendulous flower spikes. Many other species have lax or arching spikes, but these hang straight down far below the crown of the plant. That makes this Aechmea a perfect choice for hanging basket culture.
Aechmea weilbachii comes in three distinct forms and this is the pendulous one. The length of the bloom spike can be more than 2 feet.
Flowering occurs in winter and the inflorescence keeps good color for many weeks. Bracts are a rosy-pink color and flower petals are pale lavender. The bracts become darker as the bloom spike ages.
The leaves are long, narrow and flexible, giving a grass-like appearance to large clumps of the plant. Individual leaves are about an inch wide by 12-18 inches long. They are spineless or have only soft flexible spines near the base, making this a good choice for people who are turned off by more heavily armored species.
Offsets are produced on short, thin stolons.

Related reading: Aechmea weilbachii forma viridisepala

2 comments:

BernieH said...

I've never seen this pendulous flowering Aechmea before. It's simply lovely.

Unknown said...

This is interesing. I've never seen seen this type of bromeliad before. What I like about them is that the blooms last for many months.