The cats aren't too interested in my new plant..lol..

Bromeliads entered recorded history some 500 years ago when Columbus introduced the pineapple (Ananas comosus) to Spain upon return from his second voyage to the New World in 1493. On that voyage he found it being cultivated by the Carib Indians in the West Indies. Within 50 years this tropical fruit was being cultivated in India and other Old World countries. It took some time for additional bromeliads to enter cultivation.

It was not until 1776 that another bromeliad (Guzmania lingulata) was brought to Europe. The Guzmania family is the most commercialized bromeliad flower crop in Europe. Their popularity is obvious as their flowers colorful, exquisite and long-lasting. They have flamboyant colors that glow, exotic blooms and they seem to ooze personality.

The flowers can be tucked into the shiny green rosette or extend dominantly above the foliage. In the Guzmania family, you will find other popular hybrids such as the "Stricta," "Puna Gold" (yellow bracts), "Minnie Belle" and "Sangunea."

Aechmea fasciata followed in 1828 and Vriesea splendens (often called flaming sword) in 1840. Flaming sword is a bromeliad with generally lance-shaped or linear foliage 8 to 24 inches long that is green or purplish often with crossbands of dark brown. The leaves have smooth margins and may have colorful bracts at the leaf bases. The foliage is often arching, forming a funnel-shaped rosette. The flowers are variously shaped, short-stalked flowers, generally in a flattened spike-like racemes or panicles in two rows. Petals are often tubular and short-lived; the bracts are brightly colored and last for months.