Family: Bromeliad
Sub-Family: Tillandsioideae:
Genus: Tillandsia
Sub-Genus:
Native distribution: Tillandsia andreana is rare in its native habitat. it is a striking air plant that grows on rocks and cliff faces in Colombia and Venezuela at elevations between 800m to 1500m.
Habit: The plant grows many fine needle thin green leaves about 6cm long and 1mm wide that shoot out from a center. It is superficially similar in appearance to Tillandsia funckiana but as it does not grow along a stem the form is more compact. The plant is small. It shares its hemispherical habit (a ball about 12cm diameter) with Tillandsia fuchsii but the leaves of T. andreana are green rather than the silver of T. fuchsii. It is visually eye catching with its bright green spiky leaves which are soft to touch. After it has bloomed it will form tiny pups from the base of its leaves and it will eventually forming rounded clumps
Foliage: T. Andreana has a beautiful red flower when in bloom and just before it flowers, the tips of its leaves will blush red. The beautiful coral bloom is almost identical to that of Tillandsia funckiana where a single flower, about 1-1.5cm long forms from each plant-let.
Flowers:
Seed:
Pups:
Cultivation: It is a hardy plant and enjoys good light levels with flashes of sunlight, but can suffer when exposed to prolonged hot direct sunlight, therefore making a good outside air plant. They also adapt well inside with filtered light and being misted 2-3 times per week.
Fertilization: A mist every week with Epiphyites Delight or Epsom salts during the growing season will help the plant.
( Epiphyte’s Delight fertilizer was developed for a special reason. Nitrogen promotes foliar growth. If you have Tillandsias, Orchids, or other epiphytes and you feed them, take a look at the nitrogen content. If it’s high in urea, the plants can’t use it because the urea needs a bacteria in soil to break it down into ammonia and nitrates. Since the epiphytes don’t have any soil they can’t break down the urea. It was for this reason that we had Epiphyte’s Delight formulated. It contains only ammoniacal and nitrate nitrogen which is immediately accessible and usable by the plants.)
Availability: The plant is not always available.
More information HERE
|
