Tillandsia fasciculata
Cardinal Airplant
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Scientific name: Tillandsia fasciculata Sw.
Former name: T. hystricina.
Common names: Cardinal airplant, quill-leaf airplant, common wild pine, clustered wild pine, dog-drink-water.
Status in
Florida: Endangered (listed as a result of Mexican bromeliad weevil attack).
Threats to
this plant in Florida: Mexican bromeliad weevil (Metamasius callizona), illegal collecting, habitat destruction.
Distribution: Florida, West Indies, Mexico, Central and South America.
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Distribution
in Florida:
Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry,
Highlands, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe,
Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota,
Seminole, and Volusia Counties.
Occurrence in
Florida:
Frequent before weevil attacks.
Habitat: Hammocks, cypress swamps, pinelands.
Description: Tank
epiphyte; plants often grow in clusters; 20-50 leaves, long, stiff and
leathery (grayish-green, scaly, brownish at base), 30-70 cm (1228 in.)
long, wider at base and tapering to a pointed tip; inflorescence 30-60
cm (12-24 in.) tall, spikes 7-15 cm long, 3-15 side branches; floral
bracts usually bright red but many color forms exist in Florida,
including yellow, green, and rose; 10-50 flowers; petals violet or
rarely white, 4.5 cm (1 3/4 in.) long; seeds in capsule 3 cm
(1 1/8 in.) long; seeds windborne.
Time of
flowering: All year, especially spring to early summer.
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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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