Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Medium
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Tropical rainforest
Range: Central America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Uncommon

About

The Scarlet Star is a tropical bromeliad prized as a houseplant for its rosette of glossy green strap-leaves that surrounds a blazing red centre. That vivid colour comes entirely from bracts — modified leaves — not the tiny white flowers tucked inside.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Poales
Family: Bromeliaceae
Genus: Guzmania
Species: Guzmania lingulata