Vriesea gradata
A medium-sized tank bromeliad endemic to the Atlantic Forest of south-eastern Brazil, where it grows as an epiphyte in humid, shaded forest, often in large colonies beside streams. It sends up a branched spike of red to orange bracts with yellow flowers, and its leaves can be plain green or flushed wine-red beneath. Grow it like other shade-loving Atlantic Forest vrieseas: bright shade, constant moisture in the air and a clean water-filled cup.
Where it grows wild
Herbarium labels describe it as an epiphyte of moist forest interiors, repeatedly noted as shade-loving (umbrófila, ciófila) and forming large populations close to streams and waterfalls, occasionally in riverside forest grading into campo rupestre and once on rock. Plants reach 30-70 cm tall in flower and grow about 1.5 m up tree trunks.
Labelled records run from about 400 m to 1450 m (cloud forest in the Serra do Cruz, Minas Gerais), with most in the 500-1100 m band.
🔒 Growing it like that
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More Vriesea
Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app.