Currently 20cm pup - An exotic looking plant with a stunning flower spike that lasts as a cut flower. It is amazingly adaptable, tough and easy to grow even in cooler climates, and readily multiplies to create a tropical looking groundcover. Matchstix is a great beginners bromeliad as it is so hardy and lacks the painful spines that many species have.
Very hardy and beautiful, bromeliads handle life differently than other plants. Most are epiphytic, their roots are little more than supports or hold-fasts. Their leaves do most of the work. The leaves form a tank to collect and hold moisture. These tanks also catch the leaves discarded by the trees towering over them. As the detritus decays, the bromeliad leaves absorb the nutrients. Bromeliads are adapted to making do with few resources and they do it very well.
A fauna refuge: create a sanctuary for little frogs in the water-filled well of the Bromeliad. To use as a habitat for frogs, plant in a shady spot around a water feature (or up a tree) and remember to keep the vessel of the plant topped up with water.;