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On the islands of the Caribbean, in the countries of South and Central America, thousands of species of wild plants have been discovered and described thanks to the long-term work of botanists. Guzmania, the photo of which amazes with the richness of greenery and eye-catching sultans over rosettes, is a native inhabitant of a tropical region. In the wild, there are about 130 varieties of herbaceous culture, differing from each other in size, shape and color of bracts that surround tiny, inconspicuous flowers.
A change in the color of the foliage in the center of the rosette or a spike rising above the greenery is a sure sign of the approaching flowering - the culmination and finale of the life of a humming plant. After the flowers wither away, the plant itself dies, but this does not stop flower growers who are conquered by the beauty of the tropical guest. Some species of Guzmania have become popular houseplants and are successfully grown in pot culture.
Wild-growing species adorn the southern expanses with all shades of red, orange and less often yellow. And in artificially bred varieties and hybrids, the gamma is much wider. Fans of indoor flower growing admire how the sultans unfold not only in red, but also in violet, lilac tones above the rosettes. There are plants even with white and two-colored bracts.
Guzmania lingulata
In the house you can often find Guzmania reed. The natural look is a pronounced epiphyte with small, rather weak roots and a stemless rosette. In addition to plants with green elongated leaves, variegated specimens are found in the wild-growing form and in cultural plantings.
Like many bromeliads, reed guzmania actively use a socket for water and food. When the plant is about to bloom at 2 years of age, the wider and shorter leaves become brightly colored, and ordinary flowers form and open from their bosoms. The fully open bract of this species of the Guzman has red coloring, and the flowers themselves are yellow.
The decorativeness of a plant lasts up to 15–18 weeks, then the whole central part of a guzmania fades away, and the plant’s life continues thanks to the development of basal daughter rosettes.
Today, several varietal groups have been created, combining plants;
- with a more compact than natural form;
- with bright unusual coloring of bracts;
- with different duration of flowering;
- with leaves on which green and white stripes alternate.
Among the popular varieties that are offered by the producers of houseplants are: Tempo's pack and Rondeau's pack. Under such names there are large variety groups obtained on the basis of the reed guzman.
If you wish to replenish the collection of indoor plants with a miniature rosette with a red-orange sultan on the top, the florist should pay attention to the Humman Minor or Guzmania lingulata var. Minor. This is a stable hybrid variety, blooming from February to mid-summer and very convenient for growing on narrow city windowsills. Miniature plants included in the Rondo varietal group will be offered in the specialized shop under the name “Husmania minor Rondo”.
Guzman reed var.lingulata is larger than the minor minor lettering in the photo. But the main feature of this plant is not the size, but the beautiful pink shade of the bracts that rise high above the green.
If on the counter of the flower shop lined up rows of tropical plants, differing only in the flowers of the sultans, the buyer had the perfect opportunity to choose the best of the copy of the mixed mix. Under this commercial name, Guzmania lingulata hybrids with yellow, burgundy, scarlet or pink bracts are marketed.
Since the Guzman mix, in the photo, was developed specifically for amateur floriculture, such plants perfectly acclimatize to home maintenance. They are unpretentious and very attractive.
Guzmania Ostara 
Guzmania is a malleable material in the hands of experienced breeders. By crossing the reed gusmania and the Guzmania witmackii species, flower growers were able to admire the thick red fountains above the rosettes of glossy green leaves. This spectacular plant got its own name Guzmania Ostara. Decorative culture is preserved for six months, but you can resume the culture by planting small outlets that appear at the base of the parent specimen.
Blood-red Guzmania( Guzmania sanguinea)
The one shown in the photo of the blasphemy is distinguished from related plants by the fact that the change in shade during flowering affects not only short bracts, but almost the entire outlet. It becomes scarlet, purple or deep pink, and this applies to both green and variegated specimens of red and gummania.
White-yellow flowers of the plant can be seen in the very center of the outlet. They literally float, because the central funnel is often almost completely filled with moisture. In such an unusual form, the ghuzmania resides from April to August, and then dies.
The tricolor variety represented in the photo of a ghuzmaniya is a bright ornamental plant. The culture has received the name thanks to a contrast combination of red, white and green flowers on a dense juicy foliage. Yellow flowers lurk in the core and are almost invisible.
Guzmania Mosaic( Guzmania musaica)
The Mosaic Guzmania differs from the already described species in more dense foliage, in which transverse stripes of different intensity are clearly visible.
Inflorescence appears on a high solitary peduncle that rises above a rosette with a diameter of up to 1 meter. This type of guzmania is less dependent on precipitation, takes root well in the ground and gets its nourishment from the soil.
Gu s mania Konifer ( Guzmania conifera )
Seeing only once flowering, as in the photo, the Conifer huzman, it is impossible to forget this plant. Thanks to the cone-shaped red-orange cone on the top of a dense, erect or inclined peduncle, the plant can be seen from afar even in the tropics of Peru and Ecuador, where this spectacular view is found in nature. The shape of the inflorescence gave the plant a specific name and determined its undiminished popularity among gardeners.
Orange-red flowers, relatively large for plants of this genus. Wild specimens are large epiphytes settling on the branches and trunks of trees. This behavior is associated with the need for sunlight and food. However, this type of guzmania is not a parasite. He gets everything he needs from precipitation, small clusters of soil on the branches and free air.
Guzmania monostachia
One of the most beautiful flowering species of Guzmania is called single chaff because of the external features of the inflorescence of this large epiphytic plant. Peduncle covered with short bracts at the bottom of the green, but to the top becomes red or orange. White flowers are clearly visible from under the wedge-shaped bracts. Dense sheet rosette formed of elongated green leaves, whose color in the lower rows is much paler than in the center.
As the flowers bloom and pollinate, like in the photo, under the green or variegated bracts small crested fruit-boxes form.
The single-horned alba is a surprisingly elegant plant with a green monotonous foliage and a high inflorescence, changing color from green to almost white from the base to the top. The small flowers under the short bracts are also white.
Nicaraguan Guzmania( Guzmania Nicaraguensis)
The medium sized Guzmania is ideal for keeping indoors. The plant has a compact rosette of smooth light green leaves and an erect spike inflorescence of bright scarlet color. On the back side of the base of the foliage has a brown or purple shade. Flowers of lemon-yellow color sit on short petioles and are clearly visible above the bracts. Flowering is relatively short and occurs in the spring months.
