Bromeliaceae

Bromeliad Family

By:  Sandra Popp  (building upon prior work and with subsequent additions)

A New World family (and one Old World species) of about 56 genera and 3000 species with Tillandsia the largest genus, having 544 species (SMI).  Most species form rosettes with thick, waxy, often colorful leaves.  Inflorescences variable, often showy, often panicles, often with showy bracts.  Flowers round or bilaterally symmetrical. Sepals 3. Petals 3. Stamens 6.  Carpels 3, the ovary superior to inferior. Fruits capsules,  berries, or a pineapple.  Bromeliads occupy habitats ranging from hot dry desert to moist rainforest or cool mountain regions. Most are epiphytes, although there are many terrestrial and rock-dwelling species.  Most of the epiphytic species have the leaf bases arranged into a water-holding tank at the base of the plant, although some epiphytic species rely on water-holding scales on the foliage instead of a tank. In some Tillandsia species, the abundant and conspicuous scales give the plant a fuzzy look. In tank-forming species the cup collects water, leaf litter, and other debris, and may house reptiles, amphibians, insects, and other small wildlife. Some species are passively carnivorous.  The family includes pineapples (Ananas comosus), numerous Florida natives (mostly species of Tillandsia, including Spanish Moss, T. usneoides), and a vast array of horticultural ornamentals.

Some blooms last only a few days, whereas others, such as some Guzmania species, persist for months. Most rosettes bloom only once, then, basal offsets can be separated for propagation.  Plants mature and bloom at different ages depending on growing conditions.   Most bromeliads grow well in temperatures ranging from 50 to 90 degrees F and withstand heat if there is good circulation.  Most tolerate low moisture conditions.  Troubles often come from over-watering, especially with epiphytic species grown in soil.  Above all, they require well drained media, usually acid.  Light requirements range from full sun to fairly shaded.  Many species fare best in bright but filtered light.  Below is a useful quote from Bullis Bromeliads in South Florida:

“Bright, diffused light is best for most bromeliads. Hard, spiny, thick leafed plants, as well as those with gray-green, gray or silvery leaves, can take bright light for extended periods of time. Soft, thin leafed plants and those with purplish (discolor) foliage do well in a spot with lower light intensity, but no bromeliad likes a dark environment. Nidulariums require the least amount of light and gray leafed tillandsias the most. The intense translucent red seen in many neoregelias usually cannot be held, if grown solely in the house. The other genera mentioned fall somewhere in between these two in light requirements.
Symptoms of too little light are dark green, often soft, drooping leaves that are longer than normal. Symptoms of too much light are yellowed leaves, markings that are faded and bleached out, a leathery, stressed look to the foliage, and in extreme cases, sunburn spots and holes.”

Many of the Florida cultivated and native bromeliads suffer from the Mexican Weevil Metanasius callizona, as well as from additional weevil species.

Key to Important Ornamental Genera of Bromeliaceae in South Florida (some data from BA1)

1A  Leaves covered thickly with silvery or gray scales…many Tillandsia species (including most native Florida Bromeliads)

1B. Large silvery-leaved ornamental species grown in the ground or in pots…Alcantarea odorata

1C. Semi-succulent, spiny, terrestrial plants suggestive of arid conditions, the blades spine-tipped and mealy-scaly on the undersides; flowers on a long stalk elevated above the foliage…Dyckia

1D. Plants otherwise…2

2. Leaf blades with smooth margins (or toothed toward the apex only)…3

2. Leaf blades with toothed or spiny margins…5

3. Petals fused or overlapping into a tube…Guzmania (the inflorescence generally spikelike or cone-shaped)

3. Petals separate, inflorescences sometimes flattened…4

4. Petals with scales on the inner surfaces…Vriesia

4. Petals with no scales…Tillandsia (and see 1A above)

5. Plants truly terrestrial (not merely epiphytes grown on the ground or in potting soil); tank absent or minimal…Pitcairnia (Pepinia) species are terrestrial (or rock-dwelling).  They do not form tanks, and the variable foliage often does not resemble other cultivated Bromeliaceae, although the narrow usually reddish inflorescences have a typical Bromeliad appearance.  The flowers are bilaterally symmetrical with half-inferior ovaries.  Pitcairnia sanguinea turns up in Florida cultivation with its lance-elliptic leaves reddish underneath and on the petioles; it could pass for a Dracaena or Crinum at first glance. Portea petropolitana has a showy, branchy purple and red panicle rising above the foliage; these large Bromeliads sometimes serve in terrestrial landscaping.  Consider also Hohenbergia stellata, often grown in the ground standing over 3’ tall, and having tight red bracts associated with blue flowers in well separated horizontal branches.  

5. Plants truly epiphytic (but may be cultivated in the ground or in a pot); tank present…6

6A. Giant ornamental species grown in the ground like an Agave, the leaves longer than 18”, the flowering stem 10’ tall…Alcantarea imperialis

6B. Fruit a pineapple (but the plant may be ornamental and even variegated)…Ananas

6C. Otherwise…7

7. Inflorescence on an elongated stem, not nestled closely among the leaves…8

7. Inflorescence nestled among the leaves…9

8. Inflorescence usually branched…Aechmea

8. Inflorescence usually simple, usually narrow, often with the flowers dangling or nodding…Billbergia

9. Leaves usually reddish or pinkish throughout the plant, wrinkled; plants flat and star-shaped; flowers few; sepals connate…Cryptanthus

9. Leaves usually predominantly green, although those toward the top of the plant often reddish; plants not flat; flowers numerous; sepals free…10

10. Leaves below inflorescence reddish at the base but green toward the tip…Neoregelia (often hybridized with the following genus)

10. Leaves below the inflorescence reddish for their entire length…Nidularium

Other plants in the manual include:

Tillandsia bulbosa

Tillandsia fascicularis

Tillandsia cyanea

Tillandsia streptophylla

Vriesea splendens