In the Journal of the Bromeliad Society 61(5): 223, I gave a short introduction to Vriesea pardalina Mez (1894). The type specimen (Glaziou 15474, see fig. 1) is a large plant with an inflorescence in very premature stage, so it is difficult to say how it would look like at anthesis. It is a large specimen with a leaf rosette of about 45 cm tall (leaves ca 42 cm long) that look exactly like the plant depicted in that introduction.

Vriesea guttata Linden & Andre (1875), is much smaller (about 20 cm tall, leaves ca 30 cm long) and has less flowers (14-30 vs. mostly over 50) and the flowers are gradually divergent (ca. 45 [degrees]) vs. flowers suberect and abruptly spreading over 45 [degrees] at anthesis, which makes the remaining part of the inflorescence with the premature flowers abruptly or more gradually narrowing in V pardalina.

It seems that both species are highly variable and some intermediate specimens are likely...