Guzmania coniferaCone-headed Guzmania

Guzmania conifera is an Andean bromeliad that holds water in the centre of a smooth strappy rosette and sends up a cone-like head of orange-red bracts tipped with yellow. The head keeps its colour for months, which is the whole commercial case for the plant.

It is planted in blocks at ground level in shaded tropical beds and used heavily in interior schemes, where its colour outlasts any cut arrangement.

Specifications

• Height0.4 to 0.7 metres including the flower head
• Width0.3 to 0.5 metres
• Native toEcuador and Peru, in Andean cloud forest
• FoliageSmooth strappy green leaves forming a water-holding rosette; evergreen
• Growth rateSlow

Conditions

• SoilRequires a very free-draining bark-based or epiphytic mix; will not tolerate wet roots
• LightBright indirect light to partial shade
• WaterModerate; keep the central cup topped with clean water
• ClimateThrives in humid tropical conditions and in stable interior environments; frost tender

Additional Features

• FlowersA cone-like head of orange-red bracts tipped yellow, holding colour for months
• FormNeat symmetrical rosette that reads well in repeated blocks
• UsesIdeal for interior landscaping, shaded planters and epiphytic display work
• SpacingPlant 0.3 metres apart for a solid block of colour
• Low MaintenanceEach rosette flowers once and is replaced by its own offsets; remove the spent parent
• Pest ResistanceGenerally sound; scale can appear in still interior air
• Seasonal AppealLong-held bract colour gives display value for months at a time

The Cone-headed Guzmania delivers months of saturated colour in shade, indoors or out, from a plant that asks for very little.