Aechmea chantinii (Amazonian zebra plant)

Japanese name: エクメア チャンティニー
Scientific name: Aechmea chantinii

[Overview]
An epiphytic perennial that grows on trees.
About 16 leaves form a rosette; they are linear, hard in texture, with fine spines on the margins.
The leaves have powdery white crosswise stripes.
The leaf bases overlap to form a tube; in its native habitat the plant holds water here and also absorbs nutrients and water through the leaves as it grows.
The flower stalk is erect and bears a compound spike made up of 10–15 small inflorescences.
The flowers are small, yellow and three-petaled.
The calyx is orange-yellow, and the bracts are lanceolate and red-orange.
A plant that has flowered once produces offsets and then dies.
The fruit is a berry.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by division.
A plant that has flowered once produces offsets and then dies, so renew the plants with the offsets.
Plant in sphagnum moss.
It is safest to have 10–12°C for overwintering.
From spring to autumn, place it in bright, airy shade; in winter, place it by a sunny window or similar.
Exposure to direct sun in summer causes leaf scorch.
From spring to autumn, fill the tube formed by the leaves with water, pouring generously so that the water is replaced at each watering.
When temperatures begin to fall, turn the plant upside down to empty the water, and in winter water only the soil.
It prefers an environment with high air humidity, so mist the leaves all year round.
Apply slow-release fertilizer once every 2–3 months from spring to autumn.
When the color of the inflorescence fades after flowering, cut off the flower stalk so that nutrients go to the offsets.
Pests include scale insects and spider mites.

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