Scientific name:  Tillandsia setacea Swartz

Other common name: Needle-leaf airplant

Former name: Tillandsia tenuifolia L.

Status in Florida: Not listed as threatened

Threats to this plant: Habitat destruction

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

Distribution in Florida: Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Lee, Manatee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Lucie, Sumter, and Volusia Counties

Occurrence in Florida: Common

Habitat: Hammocks and swamps

Description: Epiphytic; grows to 30 cm (12 in.) long; plants densely clustered, growing as aggregates of small tufts; leaves dilated at base, flexuous at tips, green to reddish-green in color; flower stalk 8-15 cm (3-6 in.); 3-15 flowers, 2.5 cm (1 in.) long; violet petals; seed capsule up to 3 cm (1 1/8 in.) long; similar to Tillandsia bartramii except leaves green or reddish and floral bracts green, tinged with red

Time of flowering: Spring - fall

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

Hall, David W. 1993. Illustrated Plants of Florida and the Coastal Plain. Maupin House, Gainesville, FL.

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

Wunderlin, Richard P. 1982. Guide to the Vascular Plants of Central Florida. University Presses of Florida, Tampa.

Wunderlin, Richard P. and Bruce F. Hansen. 2000. Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants. Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa. http://www.plantatlas.usf.edu