PlantFiles: Earth Star, Starfish Plant
Cryptanthus bivittatus 'Ruby'

A friend gave me a mature one, actually looks discolored and what i thought upon seeing is that its hopeless. But since its a bromeliad i planted it and hoping to give me a pup. As weeks passed... i am becoming frustrated in addition that one of its foliage were rotting so i just put it aside and never gave a drink...then one morning upon checking my other plants, i've noticed that this neglected one were giving me a pup. I've waited for it to mature and in total i have four pups.

I found this unusual plant for sale at Wal-Mart, and I remember being drawn to it because my husband said its leaves looked just like bacon. So I took home two of these "bacon plants," and placed it out on the balcony in full sunlight. Before I knew it, both plants had two offspring, and even one plant bloomed. Once the offspring were of a good size, I planted all four into a separate pot. Neither of them seemed to have produced roots (or at least none that I have noticed), they have remained alive for weeks and have even grown larger.

The two original plants have two more offspring coming up again. At this rate, I'll have the whole balcony covered. This plant has required minimal care and just deepens its red color as it stays in the sun. Very much fun to grow.

I didn't know these were supposed to die! I have had mine for years and it has pupped MANY times :) So far the plants all seem very healthy.
I have many cryptanthus and they are all very easy to maintain.

Bright light brings out the deep ruby color of this little gem.

It is common for mother plants to keep producing pups for some time if they are cared for. The leaves will eventually die, but the old stub will still reproduce.

OUR PLANT BLOOMED THIS SUMMER (NOT A SPECTACULAR BLOOM,BUT AT LEAST IT DID) THEN SET 2 PUPS, WHICH WE POTTED SEPARATELY. WE THOUGHT WE'D LEAVE THE PARENT AROUND UNTIL IT DIED JUST FOR COLOR, BUT NOW ( NOVEMBER ) IT HAS SET 3 NEW PUPS. SUPPOSEDLY IT SHOULD DIE, BUT I'M NOT COMPLAINING!