The Spanish Moss — Tilland 



TILLANDSIA 



A. Plant-body slender and hanging; fls. solitary 

 leaf arils. 

 usneoldes, Linn. Spanish, Florida or Long Mo 

 Figs. 2516, 2517. Whole plant hoary-gray, hanging £r 

 trees; the stems very slen- 

 der and often several feet 

 long: lvs. scattered, nar- 

 row-linear, 1-3 in. long: lis. 

 solitary in the leaf -axils, 

 small and not showy, tin- 

 petals yellow and reflexed 

 at the end. Trop. Anier. 

 and in the U. S. from Texas 

 to Fla. and eastern Vir- 

 ginia; extends southward to 

 southern Brazil. B.M. 6309. 

 Gn. 37, p. 221. Gt. 45, p. 

 2G7. — This is one of the most 

 characteristic plants of our 

 southern regions. In moist 

 regions it gives a most weird 

 aspect to the forests. It is 

 used as a packing material, 

 and also, when specially 

 prepared, for upholstery. It 

 is rarely cultivated, although 

 it is not uncommon in green- 

 houses, being hung on 

 branches and beams; but it 

 must be renewed frequently. 

 The plant is named for its 

 resemblance to the lichen 

 Usnea. 



aa. Plant-body stiff and nearly or quite erect. 

 B. Stamens shorter than the petals. 

 c. Pis. few in the cluster. 

 recurvata, Linn. (T. Bdrtrami, Ell., at least in part). 

 A few inches high, tufted, with scurfy terete or fili- 

 form recurved 2-ranked lvs.- fls. 1-5 on a spike that is 

 sheathed at the base but naked above, the corolla blue 

 and exceeding the calyx. Florida to Argentina and 

 Chile. 



cc. Pis. many, distichous. 

 anceps, Lodd. ( Vriisia dnceps, Lem.). Erect, the 

 flower-stem 6-12 in. tall and bearing a spike with large 

 distichous green bracts 

 from which small blue fls. 

 emerge: lvs. stiff, about 1 

 ft. long, dilated and striped 

 at the base: fls. 2 in. or less 

 long, blue or purplish, the 

 perianth much exceeding 

 the calvx. Costa Rica, 

 Trinidad. L.B.C. 8-771. 



Lindeniana, Regel IT. 

 Undent, Morr. Vriisia Lin- 

 deni, Lem.). Lvs. rosulate, 

 about 1 ft. long, dilated at 

 the base, long recurving: 

 spike large, the showy dis- 

 tichous bracts carmine: fls. 

 large, much exserted beyond 

 the bracts, the large wide- 

 spreading segments bluish 

 purple. Ecuador, Pern. I. 

 H. 16:610; 27:370 (as var. 

 Regeliana). G.C. II. 12: 

 461. K. H. 1872:230; 1898: 

 206 (as var. tricolor). P.M. 

 1872:44. — A handsome and 

 popular species. 



be. Stamens longer than 

 the petals. 

 c. Stem thickened and bulb- 

 like at the base. 

 bulbdsa, Hook. Small 

 scurfy plant a few inches high, the stem swollen at the 

 base: lvs. 3-5 in. long, much dilated and clasping at 

 the base and terete above: fls. few, in racemose short 



TILLANDSIA 



1811 



spikes, long and narrow, the much exserted but not 

 spreading petals purple. Var. picta, Hook., has the 

 upper lvs. and bracts scarlet. S. Fla. to Venezuela. 

 B.M. 4288. F.S. 3:221. 



2516. Spanish Moss— Tilland 

 sia usneoides. (Much re 



CC. Stem not prominently swollen. 



V. Lvs. linear or filiform from the base or abruptly 



from a dilated base. 



polystachya, Linn. ( T. angustifdlia, Swartz. T.parvi- 

 sp\ca, Baker). Lvs. rosulate, lepidote or scurfy, curved, 

 equaling or exceeding the stem : inflorescence compound, 

 somewhat paniculate, the lateral spikes shorter than the 

 central ones, the bracts distichous and pointed and little 

 exceeding the calyx: fls. blue. S. Fla. to Brazil. 



tenuifolia, Linn. (T. ccespitdsa, Leconte, not Cham. 

 & Schlecht. T. Bdrtrami, Ell. in part). Plant less than 

 6 in. tall, reddish, clustered: lvs. awl-shaped and erect. 

 Dearly terete, concave at the base, scurfy: fls. few in a 

 simple or somewhat compound spike, the blue petals 

 exceeding the bracts and recurving at the apex. Fla. to 

 Brazil. 



DD. Lvs. gradually narrowed from a broad base. 



iasciculata, Swartz (T. bracteata, Chapm. T. glau- 

 ciijihylla, Baker. Vriesia glattcopltylla, Hook.). Tall, 

 strong species with stem 2 ft. tall: lvs. 1-154 ft. long, 

 concave or channeled above, erect or ascending, scurfy 

 and bluish; stem longer than the lvs. and branched, the 

 branches or spikes bearing distichous keeled acute 

 mostly greenish and red-tinged bracts: fls. narrow, ex- 

 serted, blue. S. Fla., West Indies and Central Amer. 

 B.M. 4415. F.S. 5:432. -Very variable. 



utriculata, Linn. Plant 2-3 ft. high: lvs. glaucous 

 and scurfy, becoming subulate and recurved at the 

 summit but much dilated and imbricated at the base 

 and forming pockets that hold water: inflorescence 

 branched, the fls. far apart on the branches: fls. pale 

 blue (pale colored forms), narrow, the petals twice 

 longer than the sepals. S. Fla. to S. Amer. B.R. 

 9:749 (as T. fleiuosa, var. pallida). — For full descrip- 

 tion of this species, together with plate, see Trelease, 

 5th Rept. Mo. Bot. Gard. (1S94). 



T. bivittata. Linden, is Cryptanthus bivittatus. See p. 404.— 

 T. farinosa. Hort., is Billhergia pyraniidalis. See p. 163. — T. 

 La Salliana: "A new species from South America, with most 

 brilliant flowers. It is of free growth and easily cultivated, 

 thriving best in a moderate temperature and in alight, fibrous 

 soil mixed with sphagnum." (Siebrecht.)— T. rnusdica. Lin- 

 den, is properly Guzmania nmsaiea, Mez. It is acquiescent: 

 lvs. 20 or less in a rosette, lorate and obtuse but with a cusp, 

 with transverse lines on both surfaces: tls. in a rounded head 

 on the end of a red-bracted scape, the corolla white. Colombia. 

 B.M. 6675. I.H. 24:2i;.m (as Caragiiata musaiea). It is an excel- 

 lent plant, with broad lvs. 2 ft. long. In the American trade. 

 This plant is sometimes known as a Massangea (see p. 992). — 



