TILLANDSIA. 



cenfors of this great botaiiilt has declared that he would 

 " excufe a thoufand of his faults for the fake ot the above 

 name alone." — Linn. Gen. 158. Schreb. 212. WiUd. 

 Sp. PI. V. 2. II. Mart. Mill. Dia. v. 4. Ait. Hort. 

 Kew. V. 2. 203. Purfh 217. JufT. 50. Lamarck Did. 

 V. I. 616. V. 7. 666. Illullr. t. 224. (Caraguata ; Plum. 

 Gen. 10. t. 33. Renalmia; ibid. 37. t. 38.) — Clafs and 

 order, Hexandria Monogynia. Nat. Oi"d. Coronaria:, Linn. 

 BrotneliiT, JufT. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, of one leaf, oblong, 

 ere£l, j)ermancnt, in three oblong-lanceolate, pointed feg- 

 ments. Cor, of one petal, tubular ; tube long, inflated ; 

 limb fmall, ereft, in three obtufe fegments. Slam. Fila- 

 ments fix, linear, inferted into the tube of the corolla, and of 

 the fame length ; anthers acute, incumbent, in the throat of 

 the tube. PiJ}. Gcrmen fuperior, oblong, tapering at each 

 end ; ftyle thread-fliaped, the length of thu llamens ; lligma 

 three-cleft, obtufe. Perk. Capfule elongated, bluntly trian- 

 gular, pointed, fcarcely fcparated into more than one cell, 

 of thiee valves. Seeds feveral, cyliudi-ical, each fupported 

 on a long flalk of aggregate fibres, becoming a feathery 

 wing. 



Efl". Ch. Calyx inferior, three-cleft, permanent. Corolla 

 tubular, three-cleft. Capfule with tlu-ee valves. Seeds on 

 a feathery wing. 



I. T. iitrkulata. Bottle Tillandfia. Linn. Sp. PI. 409. 

 Willd. n. I. Ait. n. I. (Vifcumcaryophylloides maximum, 

 llore tripetalo pallide luteo, femine filamcntolo ; Sloane 

 Jam. V. u 188.) — Leaves linear, channelled, recurved; 



dilated and inflated at the bafe. Stem clofely panicled 



Found on the branches of large trees in Jamaica, where it is 

 known by the name of Wild Pine. Sloane obferves that the 

 long, tough, fmooth fibres of the root, which is perennial, do 

 not infinuate- themfelves into the , bark or wood, to draw 

 nourifliment from thence, but merely grafp the branch, 

 fixing themfelves fij-mly to the bark for fiipport. Stem 

 folitary, round, fmooth, leafy, three or four feet high. 

 Leaves numerous, often a yard long, chaiuielled, entire, 

 tapering to a very flender point, recurved, ftriated ; paler- 

 beneath, and clothed with extremely minute chaffy fcales 

 like powder ; the radical ones greatly enlarged and tumid 

 at the bale, where they form a (ort of oval hollow velfel, 

 which holds a quantity of water, coUefted during the wet 

 feafon, from the rain trickling down the channels of the 

 leaves. In tliis it is faid that fmall aquatic animals fome- 

 times take refuge, while birds, and even men, are reported 

 to have hence derived a welcome fiipply of drink. The 

 •water feems deftined to fupport the plant during drought, 

 when it could otherwife obtain notliing by its roots ; but 

 this flender rtock is enough to preferve life, and indeed a 

 confiderable degree of luxuriance. The Jloivers are of a 

 pale greenifli-yellow, with purple anthers, and compofe a 

 clofe branched panicle. The long branching down which 

 accompanies each feed, and is inferted into its bafe, carries it 

 to a diftance, and readily clings to the rough barks of trees, 

 where the feed fpeedily vegetates. When the Jlem is 

 wounded, a clear white mucilaginous gum exudes. Sloane, 



2. T. /errata. Serrated Tillandfia. Linn. Sp. PI. 409. 

 Willd. n. 2. Ait. n. 2. (Caraguata clavata et fpicata, 

 j foliis fcrratis ; Plum. Ic. 63. t. 75. f. i.) — Leaves flat, 

 fmooth, witli fl:rong fpinous ferratures ; entire towards the 

 > bafe. Spike compound. Brafteas with fpinous teeth. — 

 Native of Jamaica. Brought to Kew, with the foregoing, 

 by captain Bligh, in 1793. This is a large ftout perennial 

 plant, with the afpeft of an Aloe, but not fo fuccnlent. 

 The leaves are two or three feet long, and two inches broad, 

 their upper part efpeeially bordered with hooked fpines ; 



9 



their under fide curiouliy and minutely dotted between the 

 numerous fine ribs. Stem and compound /pike bcfet with 

 broad, ovate, pointed braHeas, wliuf ■ fpines are more direft 

 and tooth-like; the under fide ribbed and dotted in the 

 manner of the leaves. 



3. T. imgiilata. Tongue-leaved Tillandfia. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 409. Willd. n. 3. Ait. n. 3. Jacq. Amer. 92. t. 62. 

 (Caraguata latifolia clavata; Plum. Ic. 63. t. 74. Vifcum 

 caryophylloides maximum, capitulis in fummitate conglo* 

 meratis ; Sloane .fani. v. i. 189. t. 120.) — Leaves flat, 

 foniewhat tongue-fliapcd, fmooth, entire, as well as the 

 crowded brafteas — Native of old tri es in th-' vail forefls of 

 Martinico, as well as of Jamaica, where it is faid to colleA 

 water, like the firil fpecies. In fizc it agrees with the 

 fecond, but the entire leaves, and the cIoL- leafy head or 

 fpike of fowers, abundantly dillinguifli that before us. 

 Jacquin fays the ^oiuers are yellow, inodorous, three inches 

 long. 



4. T. tenuifolia. Slender-leaved Tillandfia. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 410. Willd. n. 4. Swartz Ind. Occ. v. i. 591. 

 ( Renalmia fpica multiplici, anguftifolia, Acre coeruleo ; 

 Plum. Ic. 234. t. 238. f. 2. Vifcum caryophylloides minus, 

 foliorum imis \-iridibus apicibus fubrubicundis, flore tripe- 

 talo purpureo, femine fihunentofo ; Sloane Jam. v. i. 190- 

 t. 122. f. I.) — Leaves linear-thread-lhapcd, channelled, 

 ereft, taper-pointed. Spikes alternate, imbricated. Flowers 



two-ranked Paraiitical, like all the foregoing, on the 



branches of trees in the Weft Indies. The Jlem is a foot 

 high, Cmple, entirely contealed by the broad flieaths of the 

 leaves which clothe it. The radical leaves arc very nume- 

 rous, above a fpan long, very flender, refembling thofe of 

 fome long-leaved kinds of Pttius, but irujre tapering and 

 channelled ; moderately dilated, fheathing, downy and rufty, 

 at the bafe. Thofe of the flem are much fliorter, and 

 almoft fetaceous, though their bafe is ftill broader. Spiies 

 three or four, alternate, feflile, imperfedlly two-ranked, lan- 

 ceolate, an inch long, proceeding from broad flieathing 

 braHeas. Floiuers imbricated in two rows, blue. Linnceus 

 quotes by miflake a fynonym of Jacquin, belonging to the 

 following. 



5. T.Jlexuofa. Zigzag Tillandfia. Swartz Ind. Occ. 

 590. Willd. n. 5. Ait. n. 4. (T. tenuifoha ; Jacq. 

 Amer. 92. t. 63.) — Leaves Unear-lanceolate, channelled, re- 

 curved. Spikes lax, zigzag. Flowers two-ranked, difl;ant. 

 — On trees near the fea in Jamaica, as well as near Cartha- 

 gena in South America. Extremely unlike the laft. The 

 leaves are very broad and concave in their lower part, con- 

 voluted about the bafe of the ftem, green, elegantly marked 

 with broad', whitifli, minutely fcaly, tranfverfe Itripes ; their 

 points recurved in all direftions. Stem twice as tall as the 

 leaves, being two or three feet high, nioftly fubdivided in the 

 upper part, invellcd with clofe red flieaths, and terminating 

 in two or three long, lax, zigzag /plies, with triangular 

 ftalks. Flvj-'crs about an inch or more afunder. Calyx 

 coloured, near an inch long. Corolla ftill longer, with 

 reflexed fegments, at firft blue, then red, as we prefume 

 from Dr. Swartz's defcription and the analogy of T,Jlr\8a 

 hereafter defcribed. Cap/ule long, of three cells, the valves 

 black and fliining on the infide. 



6. T./etacea. Setaceous Tillandfia. Swartz Ind. Occ. 

 593. Willd. n. 6. — Leaves linear-thread-ftiaped, recurved, 

 nearly fmooth. Spike fimple, with two-ranked imbricated 

 Ihcaths. — Found on trees in Jamaica. Stem a foot or more 

 in height, round, nearly upright, clothed with alternate, 

 broad, briftle-pointed (heatlis. Radical leaves nearly equal 

 in length to the Hem, numerous, fheathing at the bafe, 

 greyifti, rigid, fomewhat mealy as it were, with very minute 



fcales. 



