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Species library › Vriesea › Vriesea saundersii
Other Partly documented

Vriesea saundersii

A compact, grey-green bromeliad from the granite hills of Rio de Janeiro, with stiff, powdery leaves flecked purple-brown at the base and a branched yellow inflorescence. It grows mostly on rock, on inselbergs such as Sugarloaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar) and even on coastal rocks by the sea. It has been widely used in hybridising. It takes brighter light and drier air than most Vriesea.

Vriesea saundersii
Photo: Nico Nelson from Sydney, Australia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows on rock (lithophyte)

Where it grows wild

Collectors describe it as a rock-dwelling herb (rupícola). Specimens come from the foot of a vertical wall on the south face of Sugarloaf Mountain, from inselberg rock vegetation, and from rocks at the ocean's edge. It is occasionally terrestrial in the understorey of low forest. The leaves are bluish or grey-green and matte, with purple to brown spots near the base. The inflorescence has yellow bracts and flowers.

Most records come from sea level to a few hundred metres on the coastal granite hills of Rio de Janeiro. One record reaches about 540 m in the Tijuca massif.

Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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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. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY 2.0 licence, unmodified.