Tillandsia paucifolia Baker

Potbelly airplant (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Poales > Bromeliaceae > Tillandsia

Characteristics

Plants single or clustering, flowering to 15 cm. Stems short. Leaves 5--10, many-ranked, recurved to twisted, silvery gray, to 12 ´ 0.3--0.6 cm, grayish-scaly; sheath nearly chestnut brown within, ovate, conspicuously inflated, forming small pseudobulb, 1.5--3.5 cm wide; blade narrowly triangular, semisucculent, margins involute, apex obtuse to nearly acute. Inflorescences: scape short and conspicous, erect or ascending, 1--6 cm, 2--3 mm diam.; bracts densely imbricate, erect to spreading, like leaves but gradually smaller; sheath of bracts narrowing gradually into blade; single spikes, or with 2--4 lateral spikes, usually ascending, pinnate, linear to narrowly elliptic, compressed, 2--7 ´ 0.6--1 cm, apex acute to obtuse. Floral bracts imbricate, erect, pale pink, broad (covering all or most of rachis, rachis not visible at anthesis), elliptic, not keeled, 2--3 cm, thin-leathery, base visible at anthesis, apex broadly acute to obtuse, surfaces densely grayish-scaly. Flowers 2--15, conspicuous; sepals with adaxial pair short connate, lanceolate, keeled, to 2 cm, thin-leathery to papery, veined, apex acute, surfaces sparsely scaly; corolla tubular; petals erect, lavender-blue, ligulate, to 4 cm; stamens exserted; stigma exserted, conduplicate-spiral. Fruits to 4 cm.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support epiphyte
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.1 - 0.15
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Light 7-9
Soil humidity 3-7
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 10-11

Usage

Uses -
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by seedlings.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) 30 - 90
Germination temperacture (C°) 15 - 21
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Leaf

Tillandsia paucifolia leaf picture by Ortuño González Erik (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Tillandsia paucifolia flower picture by Matthew Horrigan (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Tillandsia paucifolia fruit picture by Mora-Fallas Adán (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Tillandsia paucifolia world distribution map, present in Bahamas, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Nicaragua, United States of America, and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:125474-1
WFO ID wfo-0000582644
COL ID 56XYN
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Tillandsia yucatana Tillandsia bracteosa Tillandsia bracteosa Vriesea bracteosa Tillandsia paucifolia