I saw this plant at our local nursery on Friday, but had to think it over before I opted to go back and get it. It was the only one they had and the nursery guy has no idea what it is.

I'm leaning toward some sort of Bromeliad (maybe not a Bromeliad, but in the same family at least?)? I wonder if it's a pineapple bromeliad...

Looking down:


Side view:


Underside of the leaves:


There appears to be two distinct purplish lines going down each leaf (the center of the leaf appears to be a little lighter green as well)


The leaves themselves are pretty hard, but flexible.

Nice! I don't know Bromeliads at all but it reminds me of Pineapple (Ananas comosus)

plantladylin said:Nice! I don't know Bromeliads at all but it reminds me of Pineapple (Ananas comosus)

I was thinking that it might be a Pineapple, but I am not good with Bromeliad identification myself. It sure does look like a couple of the pictures in the database.

I wonder if Pineapple (Ananas comosus) has serrated edges. Mine doesn't appear to have serrated edges.

@drdawg,
Are you familiar with this one?

It does have leaves that resemble a bromeliad, but it is such a young plant, I can't ID it. Sorry.

@drdawg,
You don't have to be sorry. It may just suffice to say it's a Bromeliad (or could be) and come back once it's bigger for a more definitive ID. I picked it up because I wasn't sure what it was... that's part of the excitement, no?

Hi Beth, I have a pineapple and the leaves do have serrated edges. Your plant does look like a pineapple, seems it has been in deep shade so the leaves are darker green. When it gets more sun, it becomes apple greenish. Watch out..pointy sharp tips
It is hiding indoors now, by our south facing window, getting hard to hide..too long sharp leaves!

This is mine:
April 2015 - it got more sun at this time, city trees are not yet fully leafed so it got more sun, and we were getting some rains then, so it was drinking nicely:


Oct 30, 2015- during summer even though it is so hot here, our city trees shades the area a lot.


Editing to add: I looked again at the underside of the leaves of your plant..that is the only difference that I see..your plants looks like the underside has more fine vertical lines..my pineapple has a smooth underside.

Tarev,
Ooo, I am glad to see someone else who has a pineapple. I will stick "possible pineapple" with it and see what it does in time. It doesn't have serrated edges, but the tips sure are pointy (yes, it's poked me already ).

When you say smooth, do you mean it's just one solid surface of that texture?

It didn't occur to me it was probably too small to get a 100% definitive ID on. ::doh::

Hi Beth, yes it is a solid lighter texture at its underside for my pineapple.

I wonder..maybe your plant can also be some type of agave

It also reminds me of Agave. From looking at photos, it seems that some Agave have sharp spines down the leaf margins while others just have the very sharp points like Yucca.

It could also be Yucca aloifolia -Spanish bayonet.

Oh my. Okay, I'll add possible Agave and possible Yucca to it.

If it survives my care, I'll be sure to update this post with any defining features that may help better pinpoint its identity.