Guzmania monostachia

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Guzmania is a genus of the botanical family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Tillandsioideae. The genus name is for Anastasio Guzman, Spanish pharmacist and naturalist.

Several species of this genus are cultivated as indoor and outdoor garden plants. The best known is Guzmania lingulata (scarlet star) which bears orange and red bracts.

Guzmanias die after a plant has produced its flowers in summer, but new plants can easily be propagated from the offsets which appear as the parent plant dies. They are epiphytes and can do well if tied on to pieces of bark with roots bound into sphagnum moss.

Guzmanias require warm temperatures and relatively high humidity. The sac fungus Bipolaris sorokiniana (anamorph of Cochliobolus sativus) and others can cause fatal root rot in plants of this genus if the roots get too wet and cold.