Then I agree with the decoguy. You might add Aechmea to the possibility. Unfortunately there are so many cultivars now, and interspecies crosses, it can be really difficult to ID WITHOUT the flower, especially at that stage of growth. Yours looks like a little beaten-up, but even if it does not flower, it may well produce one or more healthy pups which will reward you with a healthy blooming plant.

Okay, first of all, the "stalks" you refer to are called stolons. There are a number of stoloniferous Neos, although the majority are not. Second, what you will be getting isn't strictly speaking a cutting, but a pup, also called an offset, or (in Hawaii and sometimes elsewhere) a keiki. Just so we get our terminology straight. Neos need bright light to keep the colors strong. Probably the reason you didn't recognize this one from some of the pictures is because in less than optimum light condition the redness fades to green and the leaves become more elongated. The same thing will happen if you overfertilize. Bromeliads, and especially Neos, are highly reactive to their environment and the same plant can look completely different if grown under different conditions. This can make IDing something of a challenge! Any well-drained potting soil will do, and if you just have one pup, a 4" pot is big enough to start it in. A common practice if you want a big, full specimen like the one in the picture is to plant 3 in a larger pot with the emerging pups all pointing outward. A single plant will take a lot longer to produce a big candelabra-type clump, and may be kind of lopsided because the new stolons come out on the opposite side from where the rosette was attached to the mother plant, so it kind of keeps going in one general direction, although they will fan out somewhat. Only if you keep removing them will you start getting some coming out the "back" side. You can just let it do its thing in a small pot until it gets really one-sided and then if you want you can cut it into single rosette pieces and stick all of them into a bigger pot together. They root easily and are happiest if you water both the soil and keep water in the cup too, as they absorb water through the leaves. Don't use any more than one quarter the rate of fertilizer recommended for most foliage plants or you'll end up with something strappy and green. How soon it will send out a new pup will depend on the size of the piece you start out with. It might already have a new stolon emerging when you get it, they come out pretty quickly, not like some other bromeliads that don't pup until after they bloom. It shouldn't take more than a few months in any event. Give it the brightest light you can, which doesn't mean hot, blasting sun. I don't know where you live but they can sunburn, particularly if you've had them indoors and then move them out.

Patrick, I believe it to be one of the many Guzmania hybrids that are on the market these days,usually grown by the larger bromeliad wholesale suppliers.Some of these hybrids are grown in Europe,shipped to the USA as seedlings,and then grown to maturity here for future sales. Many of the Guzmania are given female names like Carine,Gwendolyn,Maurina,etc. and at times are shown on the plant tag if it came with the plant. Bob

I have mine in pots and leave them together as much as possible. With these Aechmea faciata the mother plant dies after flowering anyway, so stress on it is a non-factor. You could, however, argue about the jumbled mess. Grown in the ground would be less messy. These are two pots. tj