Bromeliad Cultivar Register (13478) 2017-07-17

*AECHMEA ‘Snaakse Ding’*	? / Lyn Wegner*	circa 1980s ?
"Mature" rosette to 30cm. diameter x 60cm. high (or even taller). Narrow, slightly-spined, upwardly-arching maroon / garnet red leaves, cross-banded frosted silver (more pronounced on the foliage reverse), form a multi-layered rosette over time. This strange cultivar is slow-growing and forms a trunk but nobody seems to have flowered it, to indicate if it is a form of Aechmea fasciata var. purpurea, as it appears to be. Occasionally a pup will emerge from the base or lower stem which elongates over time. The top-heavy growth makes the plant unstable eventually, which either requires staking or cutting the stem to reroot the shortened rosette. This cultivar has been established in South African collections for over 25 years and is suspected to be an import from U.S.A. in the 1980s. The registrant Lyn Wegner has decided to name it after the Afrikaans language expression "Snaakse Ding" , meaning "oddity". Reg. Doc. 4/2016 by L Wegner. Fasciata Group Country of origin: ? / South Africa
Seed Parent: ?	Pollen Parent: ?