Tillandsia setacea Sw.

Southern needleleaf (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Poales > Bromeliaceae > Tillandsia

Characteristics

Plants densely clustering, flowering to 30 cm. Stems short. Leaves 15--30, many-ranked, finely appressed, erect, green to reddish green, 20--30 ´ 0.1--0.4 cm, uniformly scaly throughout; sheath rust-colored, broadly triangular, flat, not forming pseudobulb, 0.8--1.8 cm wide; blade very narrowly linear-triangular, ribbed, leathery, margins involute, apex filiform-attenuate. Inflorescences: scape conspicuous, erect, 8--15 cm, 2--4 mm diam.; bracts densely imbricate, erect; sheath of bracts, especially upper ones, narrowing abruptly into blade; spikes erect, palmate (rarely simple), linear, compressed, 1--4 ´ 0.5--0.6 cm, apex acute; branches 1--5. Floral bracts imbricate, erect, green or tinged red, broad (covering all or most of rachis, rachis not visible at anthesis), ovate, keeled only toward apex, 0.8--1.2 cm, thin-leathery, base not visible at anthesis, apex attenuate to acute, surfaces appressed-pale scaly, venation slight. Flowers 3--15, conspicuous; sepals with adaxial pair connate, elliptic, keeled, 0.8--1 cm, thin-leathery, veined, apex acute, surfaces slightly scaly; corolla tubular, petals erect, lavender, ligulate, 1.8--2.2 cm; stamens exserted; stigma exserted, conduplicate-spiral. Fruits 2--3 cm.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support epiphyte
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.25 - 0.3
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 setacea leaf picture by William Wattles (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Tillandsia setacea world distribution map, present in Brazil, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Georgia, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and United States of America

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:125648-1
WFO ID wfo-0000584974
COL ID 7CC67
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Diaphoranthema versicolor Tillandsia disticha Vriesea disticha Platystachys disticha Platystachys setacea Tillandsia bromoides Tillandsia calamifolia Tillandsia setacea Vriesea setacea Tillandsia caespitosa Tillandsia setacea var. tenuifolia