Pendent epiphyte, hanging in feathery grey clumps. Stem very slender, less than 1 mm thick, sinuous. Leaves in tufts of 2 or 3 at intervals along the stem; sheath about 1 cm long; blade 3-6 cm long. Inflorescence single-flowered; petals green.
Southern North America and most of South America
One of the most common tillandsias in cultivation.
T. erubescens Schltr. from Mexico has many leaves, densely many-ranked with blades often secund, to 20 cm long, grey scaled; sheaths inconspicuous; blades narrowly triangular 5-15 mm wide. Scape erect to recurved with leaf-like bracts at base, rose pink, sparsely scaly. Inflorescence usually simple and many-ranked, few-flowered, densely ellipsoid, to 9 cm long, 3 cm wide; spikes 1 or 2 flowered; floral bracts 2.5-3.5 cm long equalling the sepals; sepals white, hairless; petals 7 cm long, pale green, forming a tube; stamens protruding. Was known as T. benthamiana until 1981.
Source: (2005). Bromeliaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
