Vriesea hieroglyphica (Carrière) É.Morren, Ill. Hort. 31: 41 1884. (Syn: Massangea hieroglyphica CarrièreMassangea santoviensis Linden ex Baker [Invalid]; Massangea santoviensis Linden ex Baker [Invalid]; Massangea tigrina Baker [Invalid]; Tillandsia hieroglyphica (Carrière) BakerVriesea hieroglyphica var. hieroglyphica Vriesea hieroglyphica var. zebrina Ruschi);

Brazil (Espírito Santo to Paraná) as per WCSP

Plant seen inside the Conservatory with unusual leaf pattern,


Beautiful images! I cannot be certain, please look at Aechmea fosteriana.

I need to correct my previous suggestion. It should be Vriesea hiieroglyphica. I apologize for my error.


Could be Sansevieria?

could be but growth pattern of the rossette of leaves would tend to be different. 
One is an asparagus family (sansevieria) and the other a bromeliad.
Bromeliad with have a sort of a cup in the center where water accumulates. even if that space is small, there will be one,  even when a flower stalk starts to develop, there will still be debris , insects and and some water in the center.
where as sansevieria will not, and (i know you cant uproot a plant in a botanical garden, but it has roots, however shallow).
Bromeliad will have pups if its old enough or threatened enough….
SO do you by any chance have more pictures of the lowest part of the plant 
and of the center of the plant (taken from th dead center of the plant at the top).
Lets  hope you have more pictures or a label pic?

Unfortunately I don’t seem to have more pictures of this plant.
To me, it looks more closer to a Sansevieria Species with upright leaves, which I had suggested in my earlier post.

Could be. anything is possible. bromeliads can also have upright leaves in many instances. so i will classify it as probable Sansevieria sp. unless you happen to visit Atlanta again and find it in flowering stage. then we will have a diagnosis. be it Sansevieria or a bromeliad


Thanks …  It was just a suggested Id.

I will try sending it to their planthotline and see what id they give. 
It’s a slow process, at times you have to wait for days for them to answer. 

Can this be Vriesea hiieroglyphica?
King of the Bromeliads?
… had suggested Bromeliad earlier.
Looks close.

To me also looks closer to images on net. 

Others have visited Atlanta Botanical gardens and posted their images with the identification. Here are two examples:

Thanks a lot for the links. They confirm the id.
… had suggested Bromeliad initially, I was a bit confused.