Guzmania candelabrum
A large, cold-growing bromeliad from the high Andes of Colombia and Ecuador. It grows in upper montane cloud forest and at the páramo edge, at about 2000–3500 m. It forms a terrestrial or epiphytic rosette and sends up a branched, candelabra-like inflorescence up to about 2 m tall, with red bracts. Unlike the lowland guzmanias sold as houseplants, it needs cool, misty, bright conditions all year.
Where it grows wild
Terrestrial or epiphytic in upper montane cloud forest, elfin forest and the transition to páramo. Specimen labels describe a terrestrial rosette herb with green and purple leaves and a red inflorescence axis with red bracts and flowers, about 2 m tall.
Recorded at 1900–3500 m, with a median of about 3100 m. This places it in cold, cloudy upper montane forest, where frost is possible on clear nights near the top of its range.
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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app.