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****  FLORIDA'S NATIVE BROMELIADS  ****
Tillandsia pruinosa
Fuzzywuzzy Airplant



Tillandsia pruinosa
Scientific name: Tillandsia pruinosa Swartz.

Former names: Tillandsia breviscapa.

Common names: Fuzzywuzzy airplant, hoary airplant, tropical airplant.

Status in Florida:  Endangered.

Threats to this plant in Florida:  Mexican bromeliad weevil (Metamasius callizona),  illegal collecting, habitat destruction.

Distribution: Florida, West Indies, Central and South America.

Distribution in Florida: Collier County.

Occurrence in Florida: Rare.
Habitat:  Habitat:  Shady, humid hammocks; palustrine (strand swamp); on dead trees.

Description: Tank epiphyte; plants usually grow singly, rarely clustered; grows to 25 cm (10 in.) tall; 5-10 leaves; scales give leaves a silvery-white, fuzzy appearance; stem is within a pseudobulb, from which leaves emerge; flower spike simple; floral bracts are pink, with 5 to many flowers; violet petals 3 cm (1  1/8 in.) long; seed capsule pointed and 3-sided, up to 4.5 cm (1  3/4 in.) long.

Time of flowering:  All year, especially winter to spring (mainly spring).


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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Web master: tmcooper@ufl.edu
Last update: 17 February 2016