Tillandsia variabilis |
Tillandsia recurvata |
|
---|---|---|
leatherleaf airplant, tillandsia cambiante |
ball-moss, small ballmoss, tillandsia recta o heno pequeño |
|
Habit | Plants usually single, rarely clustering, flowering to 40 cm. | Plants in dense spheric clusters, flowering to 15 cm diam. |
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. |
4–10, 2-ranked, recurving, gray, 6–12 × 0.2–0.3 cm, densely pruinose-scaly; sheath pale, elliptic, not inflated, not forming pseudobulb, 4–8 mm wide; blade subulate, terete distally, succulent, margins involute to nearly tubular, apex acute to 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, 2–5 cm, ± 1 mm diam.; bracts 1–2, widely spaced, erect, inconspicuous, nearly foliaceous; sheath of bracts narrowing gradually into blade; spikes ascending, subpalmate, elliptic, compressed, 8–15 ´ 4–6 mm, apex acute; lateral branches absent. |
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. |
usually 2, conspicuous; sepals free, lanceolate, not keeled, 6–8 mm, thin, veined, apex acute, surfaces glabrous; corolla tubular; petals spreading toward apex, violet, elliptic, 0.7–1 cm; stamens included; stigma included, simple-erect. |
Fruits | to 3 cm. |
to 3 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 laxly imbricate, erect, green, tinged purple, broad (covering all or most of rachis, rachis not visible at anthesis), narrowly elliptic, not keeled, 0.8–1 cm, thin-leathery, apex acute, surfaces densely grayish-scaly, venation even to slight. |
Tillandsia variabilis |
Tillandsia recurvata |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring–fall. | Flowering summer. |
Habitat | Epiphytic in moist, shaded habitats | Epiphytic to occasionally among or on rocks (Arizona, Texas), usually in bright exposed habitats |
Elevation | 0–30 m (0–100 ft) | 0–1500 m (0–4900 ft) |
Distribution |
FL; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies
|
AZ; FL; GA; LA; TX; Mexico; 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 | Renealmia recurvata, Diaphoranthema recurvata |
Name authority | Schlechtendal: Linnaea 18:418. (1844) | (Linnaeus) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl., ed. 2 1: 410. (1762) |
Web links |