
Alcantarea imperialis bromeliad flower buds
Endemic to Brazil in rocky slope locations.
A large and stunning bromeliad with a dense rosette of wide strap-like, corrugated leaves with a smooth margin. This stunning plant takes years to flower just once before producing offsets with a large flower spike (up to 2.5 m in height) that is covered with hundreds of flowers. The flower spike can last up to 12 months. After flowering, the mother plant will start to die-back while new pups are produced alongside.
This is cultivar 'Rubra'. Leaves of this plant turn a gorgeous burgundy in high sunlight.
Growing to an impressive 1.5 m x 1.5 m.

''Alcantarea imperialis'' is a species of bromeliad in the genus ''Alcantarea''. This species is endemic to Brazil.
comments (3)
These are flower buds of the stunning Imperial Bromeliad (Alcantarea imperialis), which is endemic to Brazil. It grows on rocky slopes and is one of the largest terrestrial bromeliads.
Its leathery leaves can grow to 1.5 meters in length (5 feet)! And, the spectacular flower spikes can reach an imposing size of 2.4 meters (8 feet) high, flowering for five months or longer! Each spike produces up to 600 flowers with a potential of releasing up to 200,000 seeds.
Once the plant flowers, the main plant dies, and pups are produced to begin the process again. To call this plant ‘impressive’ would be an understatement! {Spotted in Australia by Ruth Spigelman}. #JungleDragon #Imperialbromeliad #Alcantareaimperialis
For more of Ruth's gorgeous and artistic photos: https://www.jungledragon.com/user/3314/popular
https://www.facebook.com/jungledragonwildlife Posted one year ago