40 PINEAPPLE FAMILY 



begin to bloom in early spring, but in other parts of the 

 state, where they are less common, they do not blossom 

 until summer. In several species bright red bracts pro- 

 tect the buds, and are far more conspicuous than the 

 narrow flowers. 



Those who have traveled on the beautiful Caloosahatchee 

 will remember the many air plants on the trees by that 

 river — the showy T. fasciculafa, with stout, crimson- 

 bracted spikes ; the large, pale green T. utriculata, in whose 

 leaf -bases handsome green and gold tree-frogs often stay; 

 and the small T. tenuifoUa, with dense tufts of narrow 

 reddish or dark green leaves. A common but inconspicu- 

 ous hardier air plant, T. recurvata, grows in small gray 

 tufts, often on the same trees with Spanish moss, and even 

 adventures along telephone wires in many parts of the 

 state. 



Brilliant plants of this family are found in South Amer- 

 ica, and there an extreme example of adaptation is shown 

 by a small bladderwort that lives and blooms in the water 

 held in the leaf-bases of a tropical air plant. 



Tree orchids are often found growing with air plants, 

 but are easily distinguished by their irregular flowers, and 

 their different manner of growth, as air plants crowd their 

 leaves in a characteristic manner, much like the cultivated 

 pineapples to which they are related. 



TiUandsia fasciculata. Flowers purplish blue, narrow, 1 

 in. long or more, in spikes on branched stem 10-20 in. long. 

 Bracts red, shining, 1 in. long. Leaves chiefly basal, rigid, 

 tapering, as long as stem. Chiefly in swamps. Blooming in 

 spring and summer. Fla. 



TiUandsia utriculata. Large plant. Flowers white or 

 straw-color, bracts green. Stem 1-3 ft. long, branched. 

 Leaves shorter than stem. Hammocks and swamps. Bloom- 

 ing in summer. Fla. 



TiUandsia Balbisiana. Slender, spikes solitary or few. 

 Flowers purplish blue, stem and bracts red. Stem 1-2 ft. 

 long. Leaves narrow, twisted above the dilated saccate base. 



