Alcantarea extensa

Native to Espírito Santo and eastern Minas Gerais, Brazil, this large perennial bromeliad grows on exposed rock outcrops. It forms a broad rosette and can reach about 10 feet tall when flowering. The branched flower stalk carries yellow to orange flowers with curling petals and long, spreading stamens. Swollen bases of the bracts along the stalk can trap water. Plants take several years to flower, and the display can last for months. Small, grasslike offsets develop around the base and can be grown into new plants. Photographed in Florida.