"In 1993 I obtained a plant from Margaret Paterson of Gympie, Queensland called T. ionantha x capitata and she asked me to check it out because the parentage seemed wrong.In 1999 it flowered in my collection and I thought at first it was T. 'Califano' which is a hybrid made by Foster of T. ionantha x baileyi. The only difference seemed to be in the longer arching leaves. I contacted Margaret again.
Apparently her plant had originally come to her from Ann Boon in Sydney in the 1970's as a natural hybrid named T. ionantha x capitata. The plant originally came from the USA but both Margaret and I believe that T. capitata had nothing to do with the making of this hybrid. Regrettably we cannot trace who found this alleged hybrid in the wild but if we were trying to name it botanically it would surely be Tillandsia aff. 'Califano'. This solution is unavailable to us so we are calling it T. 'Califano Too'"
