Members of the Neoregelia compacta complex are used extensively in bromeliad collections and gardens due to their friendly nature, easy culture and rapid growth rates under less than ideal conditions (Fig. 1). They may be recognized by their shallow funnelform rosettes, broadly rounded, or slightly emarginate, apiculate leaf tips; straight, robust stolons that often exceed half the length of the leaf blade and can support the weight of a fully grown offset; inconspicuous marginal leaf spines; a red ring surrounding the inflorescence produced by bands of color at the bases of the inner leaf blades; bright orange-red involucral bracts, the innermost extending beyond the sepals; pink sepals; and fruit becoming a bright red-orange when maturing after successful pollination. Unfortunately for growers in most of the world, this last character is only seen when the flowers have been cross-pollinated by hand.

The group is comprised of Neoregelia compacta (Fig. 2, Fig. 5), with two forms found in cultivation - the smaller form reaches only about half the size of the more robust form; Neoregelia macwilliamsii (Fig1, Fig. 4); and the albomarginate cultivar, Neoreglia 'Bossa Nova' (Fig. 3, Fig. 6)) that is traditionally regarded as an offshoot of Neoregelia compacta.

All plants in the complex will produce precocious offsets (offsets that can grow to mature size, and sometimes flower, before bloom has been initiated in the mother rosette) and the relatively long stolons ensure rapid expansion while the many-leaved rosettes provide quick coverage of new areas. Cultivated clones of Neoregelia compacta and N. macwilliamsii have concolorous green leaves and are frequently grown as hanging basket plants to take advantage of their stoloniferous nature. Where they can be grown outdoors, they are also used as a high ground cover to take advantage of their rapid growth and spread rates. When used as ground cover around trees, they also show an unexpected ability to climb into the trees (Fig. 7). In both of these species, leaf color depends on the nutritional status of the plants. When well-fed, the leaves are a bright green; once food supplies have diminished and the growth rate of the plant slows, leaf color moves much more towards yellow (see Figs. 2 & 3). In any color, the leaves appear shiny. Inconspicuous, peltate trichomes are scattered across both surfaces of the leaf blade in N. compacta, but they do not influence the color of the leaf because the edges of the trichome cap that scatter light so effectively in other Neoregelia species are very small, stick very close to the leaf surface and scatter very little light. Trichomes are more densely scattered on the leaves of N. macwilliamsii, with neighboring trichomes usually touching on the lower leaf surface, but again, they have very under-developed edges that scatter very little light.

All of the plants in the complex flower freely and vegetative offsets typically flower within a year. In southern Florida, flowering is most common during the winter months. You can see individual rosettes blooming during any month of the year,...