QUILL-LEAF TILLANDSIA 



Tillandsia fasciculata Swartz 



In motoring from lower Virginia southward, the ever increasing 

 abundance of epiphytic plants is striking. In southern Virginia, Spanish 

 moss frequently drapes the trees, especially the bald cypress. Farther 

 down the coast other species of the Pineapple Family make their ap- 

 pearance, and in Florida a number of different kinds are native. In some 

 of the hammocks there, all the branches of the trees and even the bark 

 of the trunk, serve for the attachment of bromeliads, orchids, and ferns, 

 and the epiphytic plants are represented by many different species. In 

 such a hammock a short distance north of West Palm Beach, Florida, 

 the specimen here illustrated was obtained. 



The tillandsia usually dies after flowering, but its minute seeds, 

 with their tufts of silky hairs, are scattered by the winds. The leaves 

 of these plants are dilated at the base, thus forming a series of pockets 

 which catch and hold water. Vegetable debris, as well as atmospheric 

 dust, falls into the water and the plant absorbs the products of its de- 

 cay, thus obtaining much of its nourishment. 



Quill-leaf tillandsia ranges from southern Florida south through 

 the West Indies, and is widely distributed in other parts of tropical 

 America. 



PLATE 399 



