Scarlet star
Sources last read 14 September 2026.
Middling It gives warning, with time to act.
Also called droophead tufted airplant, Orange Star and Vase Plant.
Toxicity is partly unassessed
What the sources say about its care
- Light
- Partial shadeRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Water
- Moist but well-drainedRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Humidity
No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.
ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026- Temperature
How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.
H1A — warmer than 15°C 15 °CRHS · read 13 September 2026- Soil
- Loam, Sand; pH NeutralRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to cats
- Listed as non-toxicASPCA names a variety or cultivar (Guzmania lingulata minor) of this species.ASPCA, filed as Guzmania lingulata minor · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to dogs
- Listed as non-toxicASPCA names a variety or cultivar (Guzmania lingulata minor) of this species.ASPCA, filed as Guzmania lingulata minor · read 13 September 2026
- Harmful to people
- No statement of harm to people is published for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.RHS · read 13 September 2026
How it usually goes wrong
- Dry, curled edges on leaves near a heater
A yellow halo sits just inside the brown edge on the scarlet star, and new leaves often come in already tipped with brown during the heating season.
Dry air takes water from the leaf surface continuously, and the tissue at the edge is last in the queue for what the roots send up. Penn State Extension notes there is no single humidity figure that suits every indoor plant.
Telling it apart: When it started. Edges that browned as the heating came on point at air; edges that browned through a wet summer do not.
Penn State ExtensionScarlet star brown leaf tips and edges: causes- Flower buds shed while still closed
Buds appear on the scarlet star and then fall while still closed, often within days of the plant being moved, turned or left to dry out.
Sudden changes in light, warmth or watering cause buds to be abandoned, because a bud is expensive and the plant cannot tell whether conditions will recover. Its source describes partial shade.
Telling it apart: What happened in the fortnight before the buds dropped. A move, a turned pot or a dry spell is the usual answer.
RHSDiagnose leaf drop on this Scarlet star- New leaves are smaller than the old and further apart
Growth on the side of the scarlet star away from the light slows or stops, so the plant becomes lopsided over a few months.
Its source places it in partial shade. In less light than that the plant cannot fund full-sized leaves, so it makes smaller ones and spends the difference on stem.
Telling it apart: What the newest growth looks like beside the oldest. Light changes what arrives next; feeding changes what is already on the plant.
RHSDiagnose leggy growth on this Scarlet star- The plant yellows from below and the pot stays heavy
Yellow spreads upward through the scarlet star a few leaves at a time, and the compost darkens and stays cold to the touch.
Roots sitting in water run out of oxygen, and the first sign above ground is the oldest leaves being given up. Its source describes moist but well-drained soil, which is air as much as water.
Telling it apart: Whether the drainage hole drips when the pot is tilted. Water still running out days later is the answer.
RHSDiagnose yellowing leaves on this Scarlet star
Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Scarlet star.
Routine care
- Watering
- Use a bromeliad or orchid potting mix and give the roots little water. Keep water in the central cup of the rosette, particularly in summer.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026During growth, mist every day early in the morning with soft water; in winter keep barely moist and stop misting.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Propagation
- By division.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Sow seed at 27°C, or in mid spring remove offsets.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pruning
- Pruning is not needed.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pests and diseases
- Mealybugs can occur. Diseases: usually none.RHS · read 13 September 2026
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Photographs
About the plant
Guzmania lingulata, the droophead tufted airplant or scarlet star, is a species of flowering plant in the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Tillandsioideae. This evergreen epiphytic perennial is native to rainforest habitats in Central America, northern and central South America and southern Mexico. The Latin word lingulata means "tongue-shaped". The foliage grows in a star-shaped basal rosette culminating in an orange and red bracted inflorescence. It is among the most commonly cultivated bromeliad types, with cultivars producing flowers in shades of maroon, red, orange, yellow or pink.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026
- Native range
- SE. Mexico to Trop. AmericaWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026South East Mexico to Tropical AmericaNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Tropical AmericaRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Climate
- wet tropicalWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- Growth form
- perennial or epiphyteWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Epiphyte, Herbaceous Perennial; habit clumpingNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Clump forming (evergreen)RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Size
- Height 12–24 in; width 12–24 inNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Height 0.1-0.5 metres; spread 0.1-0.5 metres after 2–5 yearsRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Flowering
- Flowers red/burgundy, white; blooms in summerNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Flowers orange in summer; red in summer; white in summer; yellow in summerRHS · read 13 September 2026
Common problems with Scarlet star
Other Guzmania
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Plants with similar care
African violetBrown tips on the newest leaves first
Bigleaf hydrangeaA thin dry rim that crumbles between the fingers
Bird of paradiseCrisp margins that appear in winter
Busy LizzieBrown brittle margins with a green centre
Calla lilyEdges of the leaves brown while the middle stays sound
CamelliaBrown brittle margins with a green centre
Sources
- ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Wikipedia · read 13 September 2026
What this does not cover
The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.
Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.
If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.