Tillandsia duratii
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Tillandsia duratii
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay. (Hassler) L.B.Smith.
Mark Supple. var. saxatilis 04/11
Paul Smith BSA Show 04/10. Photo Terry Davis.
Comment to Tillandsia discussion group, from Mark Supple.....
"This plant I obtained from Peter in 1990 or 91 at Five Dock by memory. It's labelled Tillandsia duratii var saxitilis still have the label, this is the first flowering of this plant and the flowers to date have no fragrance, just a quick question to all. Do any duratii's not have fragrance? The flowers have been out now for 2 days. The plant itself is 600mm long and inflorence is 600mm."
Cheers, Mark.
The universal esponse from the group was....
Yes, correct identity. No, ALL duratii have fragrance, especially early morning.
But being a "new" sensation, not everyone can pick the smell at first.

Peter Tristram 10/11
Peter Tristram 10/11
From Peter Tristram.....
"A bit of an update from the previous yellow duratii post. It is interesting that the petals change colour to violet over time and many flowers are open simultaneously – quite a show but from a distance nothing stands out (except the fragrance!). I sure hope this clone is hardier than the other and pups well. Unfortunately the gas killed a couple of siblings when I imported them – criminal."

Len Colgan....
Clearly, the T. duratii came from Lotte Hromadnik. I was fortunate to witness the unbelievable location in Bolivia where I was able to find all those different coloured forms of T. duratii, with petal colours including yellow, orange, brown and purple, often mixed. Sadly, all of my plants died in the heat-wave a few years ago. But at least I have wonderful pictures.

Tillandsia duratii
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay. (Hassler) L.B.Smith.
Bob Hudson 04/12. var. duratii 1m high.
Bob Hudson 04/12. var. saxatilis 1.6m high.

Updated 25/04/12