Bromelia serra

Stoloniferous terrestrial bromeliad. Long and narrow leaves (1.5 x 40 cm), glossy, with robust hooked spines on the margin, gathered in dense rosettes. When the plant goes into flower, it develops a robust floral scape slightly exceeding the leaves with showy 20 cm long red leaf-like bracts. Above the bracts develops the sub-globose, whitish inflorescence, from which numerous purplish flowers develop in succession. Native to Bolivia and central Brazil up to Paraguay and northern Argentina (provinces of Salta, Formosa, Chaco, Corrientes and Misiones). In nature, it grows in the understory of sparse deciduous forests and in the Cerrado (Brazilian savannah) and often completely covers the ground together with other bromeliads and cacti. Half-hardy. Bare root plant.