Tillandsia Magnificent
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Tillandsia Magnificent
Magnificent, Magnifica, Dennis, Tropiflora, see notes below.
From BCR - Mature large rosette to 60cm. diameter x 40cm. high. Outspreading, channeled, grey-green leaves with pronounced silvery scurf towards the base and foliage reverse. Erect spike to 50cm. tall with up to 12 branched scarlet and yellow "paddles" with violet flowers. Distinctive clone of T. fasciculata originally wild-collected in Chiriqui Province, west Panama near the Costa Rican border in the late 1980s by Florida growers Steve Correale, Dennis Cathcart, Chester Skotak and probably other collectors (unrecorded who named it "Magnificent"). T. 'Magnificent' has been grown in error for years as T. "Chiquensis", particularly in Asia. fasciculata Group. Reg. Doc. 2/2016 by Geoff Lawn. Country of origin: Panama

Ross Little 03/17 as "Dennis"
a fasciculata in Boquete, Panama. Peter Tristram
a fasciculata in Boquete, Panama. Peter Tristram
Ross Little 17/03/17
Back to business, I have this plant tagged as Tillandsia 'Dennis', has this one ever been sorted and given a species identification or a cultivar name of its own as there is already a Till. 'Dennis' registered on the BCR which is from the Till. carminea / tenuifolia type complex, what are we calling my plant these days ?

Peter Tristram 17/03/17
Try Tropiflora! There's a story here.

Rob Bower 18/03/17
I had this identified by some experts via Eric Gouda's website as T. fasciculata Magnificent. Spike lasted for months.

Peter Tristram 18/03/17
Lots of different ‘Magnificent’ have been imported by the many importers. They vary a lot in the wild. It is worth mentioning that T. fasciculata has been split into many new species and that plants like this, occurring south of Mexico, are regarded as true T. fasciculata.
I have attached some pics taken in Panama on the way to Fortuna as well as one of a different looker from a higher elevation at Boquete.

On one of my trips to the US in the mid ‘90s (1994 I think) I was given a very nice form of T. fasciculata by Linda Cathcart. It bloomed like a particularly choice form of what Tropiflora marketed as ‘Magnifica/Magnificent’, a wild-collected group which came from Fortuna, Panama, via Chester, if my memory serves me correctly. ‘Tropiflora’ is recorded in the BCR as from Jamaica though. I sold my plant after a time as ‘T. fasciculata ex Dennis’ shortened to just ‘Dennis’ and it would be all over Oz by now. Years later Mark Paul imported T. fasciculata 'Tropiflora' from Tropiflora (2006) and it bloomed as a dead ringer for what I was calling 'Dennis' (and it still does). I remeber Dennis saying 'You boys have come from so far. Everything's for sale.'
If they are not the same plant, they are very, very similar. Others will have bloomed both of these by now and might have opinions.

Bob Hudson 18/03/17
Going back a couple of years I acquired a T. Tropiflora and was told by other growers that T. Magnificent T. Dennis & T. Tropiflora were all the one plant as people bought T. Magnificent from Tropiflora. When back in Australia I lost the label and because it came from Tropiflora that's what I called it. The same goes for T. Dennis.

Rob Bower 18/03/17
Thanks. It was one of about 6 I bought unlabelled – one turned out to be a rotundata which I liked and the other magnispica which was also lovely. So it was a nice lottery batch a couple of which have yet to flower. I'm very envious of people who have been able to take the photos in habitat - they look great.

Updated 05/12/20