Catopsis nutans
Nodding Strap Airplant
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Scientific name: Catopsis nutans (Swartz) Griseb.
Common names: Nodding strap airplant, nodding airplant, nodding catopsis.
Status in
Florida: Endangered.
Threats to
this plant in Florida: Restricted range, illegal collecting, Mexican bromeliad weevil (Metamasius callizona).
Distribution: Florida, Mexico, West Indies, Central and South America.
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Distribution
in Florida: Collier County.
Occurrence in
Florida: Very rare.
Habitat: Palustrine (slough) and shady, humid hammocks (deep cypress swamp).
Description: Tank
epiphyte; plant grows to 30 cm (12 in.); small rosettes with flexible,
spreading, bright-green, tapered leaves, overlapping at bases [8-15 cm
(3-6 in.) long, 2 cm (3/4 in.) at base, narrowing to tip]; leaves are
chalky, especially at base; flower stalk usually simple; 3-10
orange-yellow flowers, 2 cm (3/4 in.) long, opening at night; mature
capsules 1.2-2.0 cm (1/2 - 3/4 in.) long, oval.
Time of
flowering: Fall – spring (especially August – October).
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References
Coile NC. 2000. Notes on Florida's Endangered and Threatened
Plants. FDACS/DPI,
Bureau of Entomology, Nematology and Plant Pathology, Botany Section.
Contribution No. 38, 3rd ed., Gainesville, FL.
http://www.virtualherbarium.org/EPAC
Florida Natural Areas Inventory.
1997. Matrix of Habitats and Distribution by County of
Rare/Endangered
Species of Florida. Florida Natural Areas Inventory/The Nature Conservancy.
http://www.fnai.org
Long RW, Lakela O. 1976. A Flora of Tropical Florida.
Banyan Books, Miami. 178 p.
Luther HE, Benzing DH. 2009.
Native Bromeliads of Florida. Sarasota, FL. Pineapple Press,
Inc.
Ward
DB (ed.). 1979. Plants, Vol. 5. In: Rare and Endangered Biota of
Florida, P.C.H. Pritchard (ed.). University Presses of Florida,
Gainesville, 175 p.
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