TILLANDSIA 



Tillandsia fasciculata Swartz 



The tillandsias, of the Pineapple Family, are represented in the 

 United States by about fifteen species, most of which are confined to 

 Florida. All the members of the family are American, and in the trop- 

 ics they are very numerous. The species here illustrated, like most 

 members of the family, is an epiphyte, or air-plant, growing upon the 

 trunks or branches of trees, usually in swamps, and deriving its food 

 from water and decayed vegetable matter that lodges about its roots. 

 The tillandsias often grow with orchids, and frequently have quite as 

 showy blossoms. Their flowers, however, are extremely delicate, and 

 wither quickly. The leaves usually are covered densely with minute 

 scales, which give a gray aspect to the plant, and have been supposed 

 to prevent evaporation from the leaves, but more probably serve to 

 hold rain water while the plant is extracting nutrient substances from 

 it. The numerous seeds are furnished with tufts of hairs, and thus are 

 distributed widely by the wind. 



This tillandsia came from Florida, but the species is widely dispersed 

 in the West Indies, Mexico, and Central and South America. 



PLATE 153 



