Alcantarea simplicisticha JELLYFISH One of the showier members

One of the showier members of this obscure genus of Aechmea-like plants native to Bahia

The ‘flowers’ are hand-like structures called hypanthodiums and look like green sunflowers

green with cream colored variegation and washed with a coppery-orange tint

and fed frequently

Alcantarea simplicisticha JELLYFISH One of the showier membersThis is a rather new species to cultivation (Leme 7355) having been first described by Elton Leme and A. P. Fontana in 2008. Native to the rocky upper slopes of Pedra da Bandeira in the northwest region of Espirito Santo state of Brazil. It reportedly forms dense colonies on the steep granite slopes. A smaller species by most Alcantarea standards, it forms open, upright rosettes of about ten leaves to about a foot tall. The inflorescence can reach