Hechtia mooreana

Native to Guerrero in southwestern Mexico, this perennial bromeliad develops an ascending stem clothed in tightly overlapping leaves. Narrow, triangular leaf blades have sharp tips, curved marginal spines and a covering of pale gray scales. An elongated flower stalk rises above the foliage and branches into a slender, open inflorescence. The short side branches carry many small flowers directed largely upward. Male and female flowers occur on separate plants. Brown, egg-shaped capsules follow the female flowers, releasing oblong seeds with a broad wing at one end. Photographed in Florida.