Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
Air Plant
Description
Family Bromeliaceae
Herbs or rarely shrubs
, epiphytic, lithophytic, or terrestrial
. Leaves spirally arranged
, usually rosulate, sessile, simple
, veins parallel, base
dilated
, sheathing
, margin
often spinose
serrate or sometimes entire. Inflorescence terminal
or lateral
, scapose
or sessile, a panicle, raceme
, spike, or head
, sometimes reduced to solitary, pseudolateral flowers; bracts usually brightly colored
and conspicuous
. Flowers bisexual
or sometimes functionally unisexual
, 3-merous. Sepals and petals each 3, distinct
, free
or basally connate
; petals often brightly colored, basal margin with a pair of scalelike appendages
. Stamens 6, in 2 whorls of 3; filaments
free, connate, or collectively or individually adnate
to petals; anthers
2-celled, dehiscing by longitudinal
slits. Gynoecium of 3 carpels united
to form a compound
, 3-loculed, superior or very often partly or wholly inferior ovary
; ovules few to usually ± numerous
in each locule; placentation axile
. Style terminal and often 3-parted; stigmas papillose
. Fruit a berry or less often a septicidal
capsule, or seldom compound and fleshy
. Seeds usually winged
or plumose
; endosperm mealy
; embryo small to fairly large.
About 50 genera and 2000--2600 species: mainly tropical
America, except for Pitcairnia feliciana (A. Chevalier) Harms & Mildbraed in tropical W Africa; one species (introduced
) in China.[1]
Genus Tillandsia
Herbs, usually epiphytic, stemless to long caulescent
. Leaves mostly many-ranked, rosulate, or occasionally 2-ranked and / or laxly arranged; blade
linear
to triangular or ligulate
, margins
entire, trichomes
usually conspicuous
. Inflorescences central, 1--many-flowered, 2-ranked; floral
bracts mostly broad, conspicuous, rachis covered or exposed at anthesis
. Flowers bisexual
; sepals distinct
or adaxial
pair connate
, usually symmetric
; petals distinct; stamens included
or exserted, filaments
free
; ovary superior. Capsules cylindric
, dehiscent
. Seeds with basal, white, plumose
appendage
.
Species ca.
550 (13 species and 2 described natural hybrids in the flora
) : widespread in the Neotropics.[2]
Physical Description
Flowers: Bloom Period: January, February, March. • Flower Color: near white, white
Size/Age/Growth
Size: under 6" tall.
Biology
Growth
Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Light Shade.
Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 11. (map)
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
)
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
)
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
)
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
)
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
)
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
)
- Brongniart, 1843
- Subclass:
Commelinidae
(
)
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Bromelianae
(
)
- R. Dahlgren Ex Reveal, 1992
- Order:
Poales
(
)
- Small, 1903
- Family:
Bromeliaceae
(
)
- A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons.
- Bromeliad Family
- Subfamily:
Tillandsioideae
(
)
- Genus:
Tillandsia
(
)
- C. Linnaeus, 1753
- [After the Swedish botanist E. Tillands, 1640--1693]
- Specific epithet:
ionantha
- Cultivar:
Druid
- Botanical name: - Tillandsia ionantha 'Druid'
- Cultivar:
Druid
- Specific epithet:
ionantha
- Genus:
Tillandsia
(
- Subfamily:
Tillandsioideae
(
- Family:
Bromeliaceae
(
- Order:
Poales
(
- Superorder:
Bromelianae
(
- Subclass:
Commelinidae
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Similar Species
Members of the genus Tillandsia
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 59 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
T. aeranthos (Air Plant) · T. albertiana x stricta (Air Plant) · T. araujei (Air Plant) · T. ariza-juliae (Dominican Airplant) · T. baileyi (Reflexed Airplant) · T. balbisiana (Balbis Air Plant) · T. bartramii (Bartram's Airplant) · T. bergeri (Air Plant) · T. brachycaulos (Airplant) · T. brachycaulos x caput-medusae (Medusa´s Head) · T. brachycaulos x schiedeana (Giant Air Plant) · T. bulbosa (Air Plant) · T. bulbosa 'Giant Belize Form' (Air Plant) · T. cacticola (Tillandsia) · T. cyanea 'Josée' (Pink Quill 'jos) · T. cyanea 'Pink Quill' (Air Plant) · T. dyeriana (Tillandsia) · T. fasciculata (Cardinal Air Plant) · T. fasciculata Sw. var. clavispica Mez (Giant Airplant) · T. fasciculata var. clavispica (Giant Airplant) · T. fasciculata var. densispica (Giant Airplant) · T. fasciculata var. fasciculata (Giant Airplant) · T. fasciculata var. venosispica (Giant Airplant) · T. festucoides (Fescue Airplant) · T. flexuosa (Banded Wild-Pine) · T. floridana (Florida Airplant) · T. fuchsii var. gracilis (Air Plant) · T. funebris (Air Plant) · T. funkiana (Air Plant) · T. insularis (Spanish Moss) · T. ionantha (Blushing Bride) · T. ionantha 'Druid' (Air Plant) · T. ionantha 'Peach' (Air Plant) · T. leonamiana (Air Plant) · T. lindenii (Linden's Airplant) · T. lineatispica (Pinon) · T. lingulata (Droophead Tufted Airplant) · T. neglecta (Air Plant) · T. nidus 'T. Ionantha X T. Fascicula' (Air Plant) · T. nitida (Caribbean Strap Airplant) · T. paucifolia (Potbelly Airplant) · T. plumosa (Air Plant) · T. pruinosa (Fuzzy Wuzzy Air Plant) · T. recurvata (Ball Moss) · T. ringens (Pirigallo) · T. sessiliflora (Sessileleaf Strap Airplant) · T. setacea (Needle-Leaf Airplant) · T. smalliana (Small's Airplant) · T. stricta (Air Plant) · T. stricta 'Hard Leaf' (Tillandsia) · T. tenuifolia (Air Plant) · T. tricholepis (Air Moss) · T. tricholepsis (Air Plant) · T. usneoides (Spanish Moss) · T. utriculata (Giant Air Plant) · T. variabilis (Leatherleaf Airplant) · T. x (Florida Airplant) · T. xerographica (Tillandsia) · T. x rectifolia (Tillandsia)
More Info
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- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Ma Weiliang. 1997. Bromeliaceae. In: Wu Kuo-fang, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 13(3): 64--68.
- Gardner, C. S. 1982. Systematic Study of Tillandsia Subgenus Tillandsia. Ph.D. dissertation. Texas A&M University.
- Gardner, C. S. 1984. New species and nomenclatural changes in Mexican Tillandsia---I. Selbyana 7: 361--379.
- Luther, H. E. 1985. Notes on hybrid tillandsias in Florida. Phytologia 57: 175--176.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 9, 2012.
Identifiers
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 983529
Footnotes
- Wei-liang Ma & Bruce Bartholomew "Bromeliaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 24 Page 18. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
- Harry E. Luther,Gregory K. Brown "Tillandsia". in Flora of North America Vol. 22. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
