Aechmea wittmackiana
Native to SĂŁo Paulo in southeastern Brazil, this bromeliad grows as an epiphyte in wet tropical forest. It forms a rosette of arching, strap-shaped leaves with channelled blades. The flowering stalk carries closely arranged bracts, with the upper part of the inflorescence relatively compact and small branches below. Vivid red bracts surround small purple flowers above the foliage. Photographed in Florida.