Scientific name:  Tillandsia pruinosa Swartz

Former name: Tillandsia breviscapa

Other common names: Hoary airplant; tropical airplant

Status in Florida: Endangered

Threats to this plant: 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: Infrequent, locally abundant

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, Nancy C. 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

Flora of North America Association. 2000. Flora of North America, Vol. 22. http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/FNA

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, Robert W. and Olga Lakela. 1976. A Flora of Tropical Florida. Banyan Books, Miami.

Ward, Daniel B. (ed.). 1979. Plants, Vol. 5. In: Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida, P.C.H. Pritchard (ed.). University Presses of Florida, Gainesville, 175 p.