Derek the Hybrid Detective
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DD0906 Vriesea Jeanie's Feather
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The Detective Derek notes from July 2005 (DD0705) have been updated below with some more recent news.

Vriesea Jeanie Vr. Van Ackeri X Vr. Brentwood by John Arden.
Notes from Derek Butcher - July 2005
This is a John Arden hybrid whose parents are ‘Van Ackeri’ x ‘Brentwood’. This is a complicated hybrid if you want to chase all the generations involved. However, this particular hybrid has a branched inflorescence that resembles the seed parent. The leaves have large areas of deep maroon especially near the base. There is a plant circulating in Queensland and now elsewhere that has leaves like ‘Jeanie’ but has a simple spike that resembles Vriesea erythrodactylon. When our plant of this name flowered we were worried about its identity and sent a photograph to John Arden for his comments. He did not recognise it as being any of his hybrids and was not able to help us. This is either a case of wrong identification or a hybrid done and no attempt made to register the name. I have taken the liberty of changing the name to ‘Jeanie’s Feather’ (a minimal change). If you do have this plant would you please change its name. If you know any history or parentage of this cultivar, please advise and the records can be updated.



Vriesea Jeanie's Feather Vr. erythrodactylon X Vr. sucrei by John Arden.
Notes from Derek Butcher - September 2006
In September 2006 I noticed the following in the Florida East Bromeliad Society Newsletter and chided Jay Thurrott as to why this had not been named if it was a favourite of Carol Johnson.
“Another interesting plant currently in bloom is Vriesea erythrodactylon x V. sucrei that came from the Pineapple Place 10 years ago. This is one of those plants that is reliable in that it blooms each year, but never blooms at the same time. One year it may bloom in June, the next year a pup may bloom in September, another year it's April... and so on. This is one of those crosses that really combines the best features of each parent plant. Vriesea erythrodactylon has a very pretty bloom, but the plant has plain, soft green leaves and Vriesea sucrei has very nice looking, dark purple (almost black) leaves, but they are so stiff and brittle that I can never keep the plant looking nice. This cross has the nice looking leaves of V. sucrei, but they are wider and softer (so they don't become damaged so easily and always look good) and it has a bloom that looks very much like V. erythrodactylon's but with the coloring of V. sucrei's dark pink to red bloom - all in all a great looking plant and one that the late Carol Johnson called one of her favourite small vrieseas.”
Jay said that the plant reminded him of a plant he had seen in the Cultivar Register and came up with ‘Jeanies Feather’. We immediately checked our plant with the description and photo from Jay of his plant ignoring the puss! We are convinced they are the same and thanks to international cooperation we have solved yet another Bromeliad problem.
To the Floridians I say note the name ‘Jeanies Feather’ and to the Aussies I say note the parentage!
Jeanie registered by John Arden
Renamed Qld hybrid, Jeanie's Feather, by Franc Hancock (Coff's Harbour) 2005.
Jeanie's Feather, Photo by Jay Thurrott, 2006.


Updated 25/09/06