Cipuropsis elata

Native to Colombia and southwestern Venezuela, this bromeliad grows as an epiphyte in wet tropical forests. It has a stemless habit with long, narrow leaves that taper to sharp points. An upright flowering stalk carries a large, loosely pyramidal cluster that branches repeatedly. The branches bear flattened spikes with overlapping, sharply keeled floral bracts. The inflorescence is red apart from the petals, which are white or yellow. Flowers have little or no individual stalk, and their stamens remain inside the corolla. Small scales occur on the leaf sheaths, while the upper leaf blades are smooth. Photographed in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia.