The bromeliad family (Bromeliaceae) contains some 60 genera of herbaceous and epiphytic plants mainly from tropical and subtropical America. It includes the genus Dyckia, which comprises 100 species of rosette-forming, evergreen perennials from rocky habitats, ranging from coastal zones to mountains at altitudes of up to 2000m in South America. A native of Brazil and Uruguay, Dyckia remotiflora is considered to be one of the hardier species, which grows permanently outside here with protection from winter rain and snow. It has a compact rosette of narrow, arching leaves with hooked marginal spines. Bright orange, tubular flowers are borne loosely on hairy panicles on lateral spikes to 50cm in height. The species takes its name remotiflora from the Latin for ‘few flowers’.