Tillandsia variabilis |
Tillandsia flexuosa |
|
---|---|---|
leatherleaf airplant, tillandsia cambiante |
twisted airplant |
|
Habit | Plants usually single, rarely clustering, flowering to 40 cm. | Plants single or in small clusters, flowering to 1 m. |
Stems | short. |
short. |
Leaves | 15–20, many-ranked, spreading, gray-green or flushed rose, 12–30 × 1–2 cm, finely appressed-scaly; sheath pale to nearly chestnut brown, ovate, flat, not forming pseudobulb, 2–4 cm wide; blade narrowly triangular, tapering evenly from base to apex, nearly plane to channeled, soft, brittle, margins involute, apex attentuate. |
10–20, many-ranked, spreading to recurved, spirally twisted, gray or reddish, banded silver, to 40 × 1–2.5 cm, appressed-grayish-scaly; sheath dark chestnut brown, broadly elliptic to ovate, not inflated, not forming pseudobulb, 2–3 cm wide; blade narrowly triangular, leathery, channeled to involute, apex attenuate. |
Inflorescences | scape conspicuous, erect or ascending, 3–10 cm, 2–5 mm diam.; bracts densely imbricate, erect, blade often hanging, like leaves but gradually smaller; sheath of bracts narrowing abruptly into blade; spikes erect or ascending, never palmate, linear, compressed, 5–20 × 0.8–1.2 cm, apex acute; simple or laxly 2–3 lateral branches. |
scape conspicuous, erect, 15–40 cm, 3–5 mm diam.; bracts laxly imbricate, erect to spreading, distal widely spaced, like leaves but gradually smaller; sheath of bracts narrowing abruptly into blade; spikes very laxly 2–6-flowered, erect to spreading, simple or 2-pinnate, linear in outline, 12–40 × 3–4.5 cm, apex acute; lateral branches 2–8. |
Flowers | 5–30, conspicuous; sepals with adaxial pair connate, oblong, keeled, 1.5–1.8 cm, thin-leathery, slightly veined, apex obtuse, surfaces glabrous; corolla tubular, petals erect, lavender-blue, ligulate, to 3 cm; stamens exserted; stigma exserted, conduplicate-spiral. |
5–40, conspicuous; sepals free, elliptic, not keeled, 2–3 cm, leathery to thin-leathery, veined, apex obtuse, surfaces glabrous; corolla tubular, petals erect, apex spreading, pink to dark rose, ligulate, to 4 cm; stamens exserted; stigma exserted, conduplicate-spiral. |
Fruits | to 3 cm. |
to 7.5 cm. |
Floral | bracts laxly imbricate, erect, green, red, or purple, broad (covering all or most of rachis, rachis not visible at anthesis), elliptic, keeled toward apex, 1.8–2 × 0.6–0.9 cm, leathery, base visible in fruit, apex acute, surfaces glabrous. |
bracts widely spaced, spreading with flowers, gray or reddish, exposing most of rachis at anthesis, elliptic, not keeled, 2.3–3.1 cm, thin-leathery, base not visible at anthesis, apex acute, surfaces glabrous to slightly scaly. |
Tillandsia variabilis |
Tillandsia flexuosa |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring–fall. | Flowering summer. |
Habitat | Epiphytic in moist, shaded habitats | Epiphytic in exposed habitats often near the coast |
Elevation | 0–30 m (0–100 ft) | 0–30 m (0–100 ft) |
Distribution |
FL; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies
|
FL; Central America; South America; West Indies |
Source | FNA vol. 22. | FNA vol. 22. |
Parent taxa | Bromeliaceae > Tillandsia | Bromeliaceae > Tillandsia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | T. houzeavii, T. valenzuelana | T. aloifolia |
Name authority | Schlechtendal: Linnaea 18:418. (1844) | Swartz: Prodr. 56. (1788) |
Web links |