Catopsis berteroniana
Powdery Strap Airplant
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Scientific name: Catopsis berteroniana (J.A. and J.H. Shultes) Mez.
Common names: Powdery strap airplant, powdery catopsis, West Indies catopsis, yellow catopsis, mealy wild pine.
Status in
Florida: Endangered.
Threats to
this plant in Florida: Illegal collecting, Mexican bromeliad weevil (Metamasius callizona), habitat destruction.
Distribution: Florida, Mexico, West Indies, Central and South America.
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Distribution
in Florida: Collier, Miami-Dade, and mainland Monroe Counties.
Occurrence in
Florida: Rare.
Habitat: Rockland hammock, slough, marine tidal swamp; usually found in strong light, on high branches of host tree.
Description: Tank epiphyte; when flowering, grows to 40 – 130 cm
(16-51 in.); leaves are yellowish-green, up to 45 cm (18 in.), with a
white, chalky, powdery covering, especially at the base; 15-50 flowers
with white petals (1.0 - 1.2 cm; 3/8 - 1/2 in.) develop on a stout
scape, usually with 2-8 lateral branches; floral bracts (6-8 mm; 1/4 -
1/3 in.) and sepals (1.2 cm; 1/2 in.) yellow-green; seed capsule 1.5 cm
(1/2 - 5/8 in.) long; seeds often germinate on the capsule.
Time of
flowering: All year, especially fall – winter.
Unusual characteristics:
One of 2 known carnivorous bromeliads, it is thought to trap insects
in its tank with the slippery powder on its leaf bases.
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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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