Not an aloe?

It may look like it, but this is not an aloe. Who knew?

I only recently found out that it's actually a type of bromeliad - a Dyckia brevifolia to be exact. It's a terrestrial type of bromeliad native to South America. I have taken numerous photos over the years of the enormous clump of these at the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens, and had labelled them as 'Aloe' in my flickr photostream. I am pleased to confirm that all are now correctly labelled (phew!)

Earlier this year I bought one at a market - the stall holder told me it was a succulent, which only compounded the problem. Glad it's not just me...

As the above photo shows, it's looking a little worse for wear. See, I thought it was a succulent, so I put it in a tiny bonsai pot because I thought it would look cute, and tiny bonsai pots don't seem to phase succulents. I don't seem to have a photo of it in the original pot unfortunately, so you'll have to trust me on my assertion that it was cute... for a time. Obviously it didn't enjoy the cramped conditions too much, because after a few months it started looking brown and blotchy (as per photo above) and the leaves started curling. I did some research online, and discovered that it is really a type of bromeliad, which led to my swapping out its living arrangements for something a bit roomier in the hopes that matters would improve.

Happily, it's recovering. It's now in a smallish (25cm diameter) basket, hanging from one of the murrayas in the side garden. Because dyckias are terrestrial bromeliads I used a blend of potting mix with a bit of coir mulch and perlite for better drainage than my normal mix.

And I am pleased to report that it now has a baby coming along beside it. Perhaps one day I will have a mighty clump of my own. Now where will I put that?