Plate 084 · clumps on a mossy branch IdentificationFive marks on the plate
- 1Flattened spike of pink bracts in two ranks.
- 2Three-petalled flower white, lilac or blue.
- 3Narrow, stiff leaves, grey-green, in a dense rosette.
- 4Rust-coloured sheaths at the base of the rosette.
- 5Plumed seed that travels on the wind.
Easily confused with Ball mossTillandsia recurvataBall-shaped clump of fine curved leaves. A few small flowers and no showy pink bracts. Air plantTillandsia ixioidesYellow flowers, not blue or white. 084 / 100 · PLANTS · BROMELIACEAENOT EVALUATED Narrow-leaved air plant
Tillandsia tenuifolia
Clavel del aire · Pink-bract air plant
A bromeliad without soil: it lives on branches and takes water and nutrients from the air through silvery scales on its leaves. In late winter it raises a spike of pink bracts with three-petalled flowers. It is common on trees around Yerba Buena and the Sierra de San Javier.
- Size
- 12 – 15 cm, up to 30 cm in flower
- Leaves
- 15 – 30, narrow and stiff
- Flowering in Tucumán
- Aug – Sep
- Range
- From the USA to Argentina
- Epiphyte
- No feeding roots
- Foothill forest
- Native
Altitude rangeLow down, in the foothill forest
Tucumán records (approx.) Tucumán records cluster at the foot of the Sierra de San Javier: Yerba Buena, Horco Molle, Tafí Viejo and Lules. The altitude range is approximate.
EcologyLiving on air and rain
- Tree branchessupport only, not a parasite
- Mist and rainwater through leaf scales
- Filtered lightopen crowns, forest edges
- Windcarries the plumed seeds
It takes nothing from the tree and uses the branch only as a support. Its roots anchor it rather than feed it.
Life cycleFrom plumed seed to clump
J F M A M J J A S O N D Main floweringStart or end of flowering - Hairy seeds. Each seed has a tuft of hairs that lets it fly and snag on bark.
- Epiphytic rosette. It grows slowly on branches. Grey scales on the leaves soak up water and minerals.
- Flowers on a spike. The pink bracts last for weeks. Each three-petalled flower is short-lived. Afterwards the rosette produces offsets.
Where to look in Tucumán- Sierra de San Javier
- Reserva Experimental Horco Molle
- Quebrada de Lules
- Yerba Buena (pie de la sierra)