Saturday, May 2, 2009

Bizarre blue-striped flower

UPDATE:
I saw this plant on display at the Carmel Vally Flower and Garden Show over the weekend...AND...it was LABELED! Queen's Tears. A little bit of research and I find that the scientific name is Billbergia nutans. It's a member the Bromeliaceae family and similar to other bromeliads it produces offsets or "pups". Another common name is Friendship plant.


What IS this? I've seen it growing (& flowering) in pots outside 2 local restaurants lately. Here's a picture of the entire plant:



The leaves are unremarkable, but the flowers...now they are something else altogether!

4 comments:

Michelle said...

That is so bizarre looking! I hope someone id's it for you, I want to know.

Flora said...

That plant is mad! Nothing like it growing in Edinburgh/Scotland - not that i've seen anyway. It doesn't look like any plant family that i've come across. Thanks for posting the photo.

Ellie Mae's Cottage said...

Interesting.... I wonder what it is. I hope someone knows so you can tell us all! :) --Jackie at Ellie Mae's Cottage

Michelle said...

Oh danged, I can't believe I forgot about the flower show! Thanks for the update. I can see how it is related to Bromeliads.