Guzmania sanguinea
A widespread epiphytic bromeliad from Costa Rica to Ecuador, Trinidad and northeastern Brazil. Its rosette of green leaves turns blood red to orange from the centre as it flowers, and the yellow or whitish flowers sit low in the rosette. It is abundant on trees on Cocos Island and in humid mountain forest elsewhere. Grow it like other soft-leaved Guzmania: filtered light, mild warmth, humidity and a water-filled cup.
Where it grows wild
An epiphyte on tree trunks and branches in humid forest. On Cocos Island it is described as very abundant on trees all over the island. In Ceará, Brazil it grows in humid, rocky mountain forest and cloud forest on the Serra de Maranguape. Collectors note green outer leaves with reddish inner leaves, red involucral bracts and yellow flowers.
Specimen elevations run from sea level (Cocos Island) to about 2,900 m in the Andes, but most are 80–1,250 m, with a median near 875 m. Most of its range is humid lower montane forest.
🔒 Growing it like that
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More Guzmania
Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY 3.0 licence, unmodified.