''Tillandsia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of around 650

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Bromeliaceae The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...

, native to the forests, mountains and deserts of the

Neotropics The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeog ...

, from northern Mexico and the southeastern United States to Mesoamerica and the Caribbean to central Argentina. Their leaves, more or less silvery in color, are covered with specialized cells (

trichomes Trichomes (; ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...

) capable of rapidly absorbing water that gathers on them. They are also commonly known as air plants because they obtain nutrients and water from the air, not needing soil for nourishment. They have a natural propensity to cling to whatever surfaces are readily available: telephone wires, tree branches, bark, bare rocks, etc. Their light seeds and a silky parachute facilitate their spread. Most ''Tillandsia'' species are

epiphyte An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

s – which translates to 'upon a plant'. Some are aerophytes, which have a minimal root system and grow on shifting desert soil. Due to their epiphytic way of life, these plants will not grow in soil but live on the branches of trees, in deserts and on other substrates that will not be saturated with water for very long.

Description

''Tillandsia'' are

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition o ...

s which exhibit a multitude of physiological and morphological differences making this a diverse genus. Having native habitats that vary from being epiphytic and

saxicolous This glossary of mycology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to mycology, the study of fungi. Terms in common with other fields, if repeated here, generally focus on their mycology-specific meaning. Related terms can be found ...

, species have certain adaptations, such as root systems designed to anchor to other plants or substrates, and modified trichomes for water and nutrient intake. Some of the species, like the majority of

, grow as funnel bromeliads, with a compressed stem axis. The leaves are then close together in rosettes, and cover the lower areas of the leaves, forming a funnel for collecting water. These leaf rosettes, a common physical characteristic in ''Tillandsia'' species, collect nutrients and water. The flowers typically involve bright, vibrant colors, with blooms or

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s produced on a stalk or several stalks. The flower's color varies greatly; red, yellow, purple and pink flowers exist in this genus, and multicolored flowers are known. The bright colors attract

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female carpel, stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are ...

s. An air plant's foliage may also change color when it blooms, also attracting pollinators. The

hermaphrodite A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic. The individuals of many ...

flowers are threefold with double

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower. It is a structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepal ...

. The three free

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s are symmetrical and pointed. The seeds have a "parachute" similar to the

dandelion ''Taraxacum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus has a near-cosmopolitan distribu ...

. Common pollinators of this genus include

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

s and, more recently recognized, bats.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Tillandsia'' was named by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

after the Swedish physician and botanist

Elias Tillandz Elias Tillandz (1640–1693; born Tillander) was a Swedish medical doctor and botanist who worked in Finland. He was the professor of medicine at the Academy of Turku. He wrote the country's first botanical work, the '' Catalogus Plantarum'', whic ...

(originally Tillander) (1640–1693). Some common types of ''Tillandsia'' include

ball moss ''Tillandsia recurvata'', commonly known as small ballmoss or ball moss, is a flowering plant (not a true moss) in the family Bromeliaceae that grows upon larger host plants. It grows well in areas with low light, little airflow, and high humidit ...

(''T. recurvata'') and Spanish moss (''T. usneoides''). The genus contains around 650 species, where 635 are considered epiphytic. ''Tillandsia'' was traditionally divided into seven

subgenera In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

: * ''Tillandsia'' subg. ''Allardtia'' (A. Dietr) Baker * ''Tillandsia'' subg. ''Anoplophytum'' (Beer) Baker * ''Tillandsia'' subg. ''Diaphoranthema'' (Beer) Baker * ''Tillandsia'' subg. ''Phytarrhiza'' (Vis.) Baker * ''Tillandsia'' subg. ''Pseudalcantarea'' Mez, now raised to the genus ''

Pseudalcantarea ''Pseudalcantarea'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Bromeliaceae. Its native range is Mexico to Central America. It was first described as the subgenus ''Pseudalcantarea'' of ''Tillandsia ''Tillandsia'' is a genus of aro ...

Range

''Tillandsia'' have naturally been established in diverse environments such as equatorial tropical rain forests, high elevation

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

mountains, rock dwelling (saxicolous) regions, and Louisiana swamps, such as

Spanish moss Spanish moss (''Tillandsia usneoides'') is an Epiphyte, epiphytic flowering plant that often grows upon large trees in tropical and subtropical climates. It is native to much of Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Central America, South America (as far ...

(''T. usneoides''), a species that grows atop tree limbs. However, there are also species that are lithophytic (growing in or on rocks, though this can also stretch to living on roofs or even telephone wires). Its native range is Tropical & Subtropical America. Green-leaved species of ''Tillandsia'' generally live in cool-to-humid climates, in areas of terrestrial shade or the lower levels of a forest. In contrast, almost all gray-leaved species live in precipitation-poor areas with high

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

. They prefer the full sun and can therefore be found in the upper floors of the woods, on rocks or (rarely) on the ground. Many of the gray species are epiphytes. Some species are more or less

xeromorph A xerophyte () is a species of plant that has adaptations to survive in an environment with little liquid water. Examples of xerophytes include cacti, pineapple and some gymnosperm plants. The morphology and physiology of xerophytes are adapted to ...

ic.

Ecology

Species of ''Tillandsia'' photosynthesize through a process called CAM cycle, where they close their

stomata In botany, a stoma (: stomata, from Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth"), also called a stomate (: stomates), is a pore found in the epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exchange between the internal air spa ...

during the day to prevent water loss and open them at night to fix

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

and release

oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

. This allows them to preserve water, necessary because they are epiphytes. They do not have a functional root system and instead absorb water in small amounts through their leaves via small structures called trichomes. Species of ''Tillandsia'' also absorb their nutrients from debris and dust in the air. Any root system found on ''Tillandsia'' has grown to act as a fragile stabilizing scaffold to grip the surface they grow on. As soon as they have been soaked with water, the green assimilation tissue below the suction scales becomes visible again, the plant is therefore "greened". Now the plant can absorb more light. When the sun dries the plants, they turn white. Thanks to this special survival trick, plants without roots can absorb fog droplets as well as rainwater and thus cover their water needs. More than one-third of a tropical forest's vascular plants are epiphytes which species of ''Tillandsia'' are part of. Their contribution to the environment's

carrying capacity The carrying capacity of an ecosystem is the maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained by that specific environment, given the food, habitat, water, and other resources available. The carrying capacity is defined as the ...

allows for terrestrial fauna like earthworms to thrive in the treetops. Temperature is not critical, the range being from . Frost hardiness depends on the species. ''T. usneoides'', for example, can tolerate night-time frosts down to about . For most species, the ideal growth temperature is between , with a minimum of and a maximum of . Few are resistant to , but some, usually from higher elevation areas, are hardy enough to withstand light and brief freezes and live outdoors year round in areas with mild winters.

Cultivation

Tillandsias, like other bromeliads, can multiply through pollination and seed formation. Since Tillandsia are not self-fertile, the pollen must come from another plant of the same species. Tillandsia, depending on the species, may take months or years to flower. After flowering, the plant forms offsets and dies. Generally, the thinner-leafed varieties grow in rainy areas and the thick-leafed varieties in areas more subject to drought. Most species absorb moisture and nutrients through the leaves from rain, dew, dust, decaying leaves and insect matter, aided by structures called

trichome Trichomes (; ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...

s. Air plants are growing rapidly in popularity as a low maintenance household plant. Due to their minimal

root system In mathematics, a root system is a configuration of vector space, vectors in a Euclidean space satisfying certain geometrical properties. The concept is fundamental in the theory of Lie groups and Lie algebras, especially the classification and ...

and other adaptations, they generally do not require frequent watering, no more than four times a week, allowing the plant to completely dry before watering again. The amount of light required depends on the species; overall, air plants with silver dusting and stiff foliage will require more sunlight than air plants with softer foliage. They generally need a strong light. In summer outside, however, they prefer the light shade of a tree at the hottest hours. Plants are commonly seen mounted, placed in a

terrarium A terrarium ( terraria or terrariums) is a glass container containing soil and plants in an environment different from the surroundings. It is usually a sealable container that can be opened for maintenance or to access the plants inside; howeve ...

, or simply placed in

seashell A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. Most seashells are made by Mollusca, mollusks, such as snails, clams, and oysters ...

s as decorative pieces. For so-called "aerial" species (the majority of the common species in culture except '' Tillandsia cyanea''), that is to say those whose roots are transformed into

crampon A crampon is a traction device attached to footwear to improve mobility on snow and ice during ice climbing. Besides ice climbing, crampons are also used for secure travel on snow and ice, such as crossing glaciers, snowfields and icefields, as ...

s without any power of absorption, watering is done by the leaves in the form of frequent sprays, or brief soaking of the plant in a container full of water. Non- calcareous water is recommended. there are 34 cultivars of bromeliad registered by Bromeliad Society International, from ''T. Bacchus'' to ''T. Yabba''.

Gallery

File:Epífitas en los cables de la luz eléctrica.JPG, '' Tillandsia recurvata'' and another Bromeliaceae species on electric wires near San Juan de los Morros,

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

File:Blushing Bride Airplant (Tillandsia ionantha).jpg, '' Tillandsia ionantha'' with bright-coloured foliage during full bloom. Some foliage has a light, silver dusting which can be easily scratched off File:T ionantha bloom.jpg, ''Tillandsia ionantha'' in bloom File:Bromeliacea tillandsia fasciculata swartz.jpg, ''Tillandsia fasciculata'' File:Tillandsia bergeri.jpg, ''Tillandsia bergeri'' File:空氣鳳梨 20190409105748.jpg, ''Tillandsia'', 2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition, Taiwan File:Curly_airplant_on_rock.jpg, ''Tillandsia streptophylla'' growing on a limestone rock File:T ianotha seed pods.jpg, Seed pods on ''T. ionantha'' in the center of the rosette

References

External links

* {{Authority control Epiphytes Bromeliaceae genera