Vriesea splendens (flaming sword, "Torafuananasu")

Japanese name: トラフアナナス
Scientific name: Vriesea splendens

[Overview]
An epiphytic perennial 75–90 cm tall, with a plant diameter of about 30 cm.
About 10–15 leaves form a rosette; they are linear, 20–60 cm long and 5–6 cm wide, with entire margins.
The leaves arch like a bow and have tiger-stripe markings in blackish purple to purplish brown.
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, 30–35 cm long, and bears at its tip a flat spike 30–40 cm long and 5–6 cm wide.
In the inflorescence, vermilion-red bracts are arranged regularly in two rows and overlap, keeping their color for several months.
The flowers are yellow and three-petaled, and appear from between the bracts.
A plant that has flowered once produces offsets and then dies.
The fruit is a capsule.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by division.
A plant that has flowered once produces offsets and then dies, so renew the plants with the offsets.
Separate the offsets when they have about 10 leaves and plant them.
Offsets with few leaves may fail to take root, and they also fail to take root if cut at the soft part near the parent plant, so cut them so that the hard part of the base is attached.
Plant in sphagnum moss.
Keep it at 10°C or higher 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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