Thanks... I couldn't think of it!

Thank you very much all for your help,i do beleive it is infact as carol states.The plant has to be mulched in winter over here and grown on very free draining soil.

Hi Nev et al. My first thoughts were also Ae. ramosa var. festiva - but I was looking for more prominent black spines too, not obvious in your photos. I have grown Ae. ramosa var. festiva for several years, and they usually grow larger, but I have occasionally flowered some when they were the same size as yours. It's a great brom. The leaf colour and large dark spines are what attracted me to it. The flowering stage is pretty, but the long-lasting berry stage is much more colourful and impressive. I have seen a smaller, very similar Aechmea sold in Queensland and N.S.W. as Ae. 'Pink Phase', but I have long suspected it is actually Ae. ramosa var. festiva, and have never personally grown one by that name. Maybe the lack of prominent black spines, and smaller size, IS the Aechmea correctly (?) named 'Pink Phase' - also a cultivar of ramosa. Has anyone grown and compared the two? I agree with Nick that it is rather similar to Ae. 'David Barry', a suspected hybrid of ramosa var. festiva. My 'David Barry' flushes pinkish in bright light, but not as solid in its pinkness as var. festiva, with the mainly lime-green leaves still obvious. I don't think any Aechmea by the name of 'Yellowstone' has been sold in Australia. Anyone? Below are a few photos of Ae. ramosa var. festiva which I have grown under various conditions - for you to compare. This was my first one, already large when I bought it pre-flowering. I whacked it in a tree, and it looked fantastic! This one is grown in dappled shade. Flowering stage. Same plant forming berries. This one grew quite large (approx. 70cm/28" wide). Grown in much brighter light - berry stage. This last one was also pot-grown, with little fert, grown in bright diffused light in my shade house. It was only a little over 12"/30cm wide at flowering. The same smaller plant as above, at berry stage, and moved to the garden. All of the above are subsequent offsets from my original plant of Ae. ramosa var. festiva. Do you think we have a match, Nev? Has yours got those same great spines? K :)

Thanks- I wondered about that since the overall organization does seem like many plants in that family. I don't know if the 'flower stalk' is a true spadix, but I don't see the spathe that is supposed to encase the spadix in Aroids? I am no botanist, though. If I get no response here, I'll try over at the Aroid forum- I hadn't noticed that there even was an Aroid forum, so thanks for pointing that out. Virginia