Dennis Cathcart ... "This plant is a bit of an enigma. It came to us years ago, on more than one occasion, mixed in with wild taken plants shipped as fasciculata 'Hondurensis' from Honduras, of course. (That plant was recently given cultivar status as Tillandsia 'Hondurensis'). That plant lives on cliff faces in central Honduras, often in association with the species T. hondurensis.
Confused yet? Well, some years ago Steve Correale found a natural hybrid of the two species which was described and published as Til. x correalii. Presumably any combination of the two species would be considered an x correalii. X correalii has an inflorescence much more closely resembling that of its Tillandsia hondurensis parent. Our plant has a branched inflorescence, much more in line with fasciculata 'Hondurensis', but otherwise also appears to be a hybrid with hondurensis.
So, is this just a "branched form" of x correalii or another natural hybrid deserving its own name? We are certainly in no position to make that decision, so we are choosing to give it a cultivar name to serve to keep them separate in the interim. Is this clear to you now? By the way, the name 'Catracho' is a nickname for the Honduran people."
John Olsen ... "Yes I have it ex Bob Hudson, who I think got it from Dennis."
Geoff Lawn ... "Yes, Dennis Cathcart registered this in 2015 as T. Catracho and gave it even more details on it's history there (below) at: https://registry.bsi.org/index.php? fields=Name&id=12982&search=catracho
{'Hondurensis' should never have been given that cultivar name --it just gets confused with the straight species T. hondurensis.}
Interesting also is that photos in the BCR entry by Pachara Orchids, Thailand, show floral bracts more yellowish but that could be a climatic influence."
Dennis Cathcart ... "Mature open rosette to 30cms. diameter. Scurfed, grey-green recurving leaves, tapering to a point. Erect branched spike of shell pink peduncle bracts and mauve flowers. Found in a 2002 shipment (and other occasions) ex Guatemala (Enrique Kamm) to Tropiflora Nursery, Florida and thought to be a wild-collected natural hybrid of T. fasciculata 'Hondurensis' x T. hondurensis. Very similar (same?) to the natural hybrid T. x correalei (fasciculata x hondurensis) found in the same general area by Florida grower Steve Correale {published in Selbyana 5:310-314 (1981)} . Natural hybrid swarms and back-crosses in the wild can be difficult to separate re I.D."
Steve Molnar ... "Hi Chris. I have as per the attached as T. x correlii Ex Bob Hudson (name on the tag) but could not confirm it as it does not look like T. x correalei. But now it certainly looks like what you have as T. Catracho."
Peter Tristram ... "Hi Chris, et.al. Interesting discussion!
I had meant to send some pics of a plant from Lydia that finally bloomed like a supercharged X correalii, grown in the tunnel in an almost sunless summer! I thought it might have been a very chunky 'Hondurensis'. There must be many hybrids around from that locality. I guess under new, elevated, and open conditions at Tallai, it would look different again, more compact and brighter coloured."
Geoff Lawn ... "Just to confuse matters further, I see on Facebook's Planet Tillandsia posted today, Apichat Wikhamchal's set of 4 photos of what he grows as T. 'Catracho'.
See: https://www.facebook.com/groups/planettillandsia/permalink/5352350778164360/
How this correlates, if at all, to what Dennis Cathcart registered as T. Catracho, I have no idea.
More confusion, or can the true 'Catracho' vary that much ?"