Tillandsia Curly Slim
and Asombroso Click thumbnails for full size, scaled to a new window.
Tillandsia Curly Slim and Asombroso
Curly Slim = intermedia x streptophylla. Note sometimes reverse parentage quoted. M.Dimmitt 1981.
Asombroso = paucifolia? x streptophylla?. Possible natural hybrid but provenance unknown. Tropiflora. W.Timm.
See also Asombroso page.
Bob Hudson 10/17 left = Asombroso right = Curly Slim
Peter Tristram 02/19 Curly Slim ex. Pam, 'Sunglow' in foreground
Gary May 11/19 "Curly Slim, very tight curls"
Geoff Beech 04/20
Chris Larson ... "Both are sold as T. Curly Slim & may be received from the RFI as such. The one on the right is the original & the one on the left is the remake (shorter and stumpier)." Peter Tristram ... "I took this pic recently of T. Curly Slim (ex Pam) after a facebook conversation about it. I added a couple of the lutea form of brachycaulos, Sunglow, for aesthetics. I gather T. Curly Slim is a curly topic and not a lot of verifiable hybrid are around though it’s been around for ages. The plants I got from RFI are Curly Slim, not remakes, as well. Evidently there are a lot of remakes so the name has been used for greges using the same parentage, though probably different clones of them and reverses. I know Curly Slim has also been selfed and crossed with many others too, in Oz."
Adam Bodzioch 01/21 "Ex Isley with a shorter, fatter spike and leaves"
Pam Butler ... "I don't think your first plant is T. Curly Slim. The inflorescence is way too short." Adam Bodzioch ... "I got my Curly Slim from Chris Larson and his tag reads Ex Isley with a shorter, fatter spike and leaves." Chris Larson ... "Yes, a different T. Curly Slim imported from Paul Isley in the 2000's. I assume this is a remake.
Some nurseries do remakes, sometimes using different clones for parents. This is not uncommon. Sometimes people say - oh I wish mine looked like that. Well - it may not ever, because it is a remake or a different seedling.
The way that this plant had performed under Adams conditions is different to the way it has performed under mine. Adam's is even more squat than mine. Under my conditions it is distinct - but not as obvious as Adams.
I remember Bob Hudson coming to see my plants, many years ago, & saying that my plant wasn't T. Curly Slim. And he sent one of his to me. I think he also took one of mine.
We all know that RFI do recreations of their hybrids. Often when we receive them, we are unsure if they are actually different, or the look is due to culture. As in this one, I passed some on to others like Bob Hudson, & possibly others, when I was still not 100% sure that it was different. Tillandsia 'Ty' is another of these that exist in differing forms being released by RFI at different times - that we speculate is because the hybrid was recreated possibly using different forms of the 2 parents - but this is speculation.
The bromeliad world is full of plants named because of perceived difference because of culture - and I am a lumper. When I receive something different, I am loathe to put a name to it on the basis of one generation's growth pattern as is becoming the trend amongst newer growers.
Whether or not my T. Curly Slim needs a different name such as Peter Tristram's T. Redy Special is open to discussion. (But note: if you have a T. Curly Slim from me - it may be the old clone or the new.)" Bob Hudson ... "Yes I did get a different one to the one I had from you Chris and it grew taller and more bulbous and curlier than mine."
