Tillandsia balbisiana
Northern Needleleaf
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Scientific name: Tillandsia balbisiana J.A. & J.H. Schultes.
Common names:
Northern needleleaf, inflated wild pine, reflexed wild
pine, cuttlefish, Balbis’ airplant, coke bottle
airplant.
Status in
Florida: Threatened.
Threats to
this plant in Florida: Mexican bromeliad weevil (Metamasius callizona) and habitat destruction.
Distribution: Florida, Mexico, West Indies, Central and South America.
Distribution
in Florida:
Orange, Osceola, Polk, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota, DeSoto,
Highlands, Okeechobee, Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, Glades,
Charlotte, Lee, Hendry, Palm Beach, Broward, Collier, Monroe, and
Miami-Dade Counties.
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Occurrence in
Florida:
Occasional.
Habitat: Scrub, pinelands, strand swamp, hammocks, mangrove, shell ridges/mounds (often in open woods).
Description: Tank
epiphyte; grows to 70 cm (28 in.) tall, singly or in clusters; 15-30
leaves, leathery, grayish in appearance because of scales, may be
reddish; leaves slightly bulbous at base and tapering and curved or
twisted at ends; flower spike usually with 2-10 lateral branches; scape
8-30 cm (3-12 in.); floral bracts (5-20 mm [1/4 - 3/4 in.] long) may be
bright red, with violet petals (5-30 flowers per plant); seed capsules
up to 4.5 cm (1 3/4 in.) long.
Time of
flowering: Fall to summer, especially early spring .
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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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