See, thats the "bizarre" part of this. We just purchased this house 2 months ago. The previous owners lived here for about 18 years. Our neighbor planted this in OUR yard (of course it wasn't our yard 15 years ago). Who the heck knows why? I can't even imagine taking one of our indoor potted invasive plants & popping over next door to plant it-lol! The thing is, he's proud of how well it has grown? We'll be putting a fence up in another couple of weeks. So, he'll have to hop the fence to plant the poison oak he's got clippings of:-) May I ask you a question about where to put it? Our house is on a crawl space. I was thinking of putting a clump of it in a shady spot right up against the house & the deck. I'll keep it in check by chopping the rhizomes, as you mentioned. However, if they go under the house (into the crawl) or under the deck, will that be a problem? There is absolutely no light under the crawl & almost completely dark under the deck. Will the plant naturally "not" grow in those areas? I don't want to create a bigger problem. I'm also going to offer the rest up on freecycle or the va board here at gardenweb (free for the digging). Do you think people would want this? Any transplant issues I should know about? Thanks so much.

We can probably tell you the genus, possibly the species or hybrid, with a good photo. The best angle is not straight above or directly at the side, but halfway in between. Feel along the edges of the leaves. Do you feel spines? If not, it is probably a Guzmania or Vriesea or possibly a Tillandsia. Send the photo and tell us about the spines - I'll give it my best shot!

I was in a hurry last night when I responded. The plant in the first pix looked like 'Choc Soldier' to me then. That's why Jeff is referring to his decoder ring not seeing it. Ha ha! I was wrong. Now, seeing last pic, it looks like K. tomentosa, as he said earlier. Sorry for confusion!

The age would most likely be whenever your relative's father worked because it is unlikely that an office would contain a vintage piece of furniture. In terms of worth, the reality is that it isn't worth much because it is a piece of brown furniture in a style that is not popular or desirable. That's just the reality The amount you can get for the piece is going to depend on how you dispose of it and where you are located. Some areas probably still have more buyers for more traditional furniture. If you sell to a dealer, you will get less - if you find a consignment shop willing to actually take the piece, you might get a bit more. You can try craigslist but in my experience, craigslist has buyers who are either dealers or people looking for a bargain unless you actually had a collectible desirable piece. If you like the piece, use it because you wouldn't be able to get a replacement piece for less than what the actual fair market value of your piece is. If you want to get rid of it, see who wants it - or donate it. I just got rid of loads of "brown" furniture - my pieces were actually from the 19th Century and the prices I was offered were so low that I decided to donate them.