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****  FLORIDA'S NATIVE BROMELIADS  ****
Catopsis floribunda
Florida Strap Airplant


Catopsis floribunda
Scientific name: Catopsis floribunda (Brongn.) L.B. Smith.

Common names: Florida strap airplant, many-flowered catopsis, many-flowered airplant, Florida catopsis.

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.

Distribution in Florida: Broward, Collier, MiamiDade, and Monroe Counties.

Occurrence in Florida: Rare.

Habitat: Humid, shady habitats: terrestrial (rockland hammock), palustrine (strand swamp).

Description: Tank epiphyte; grows to 70 cm (28 in.) tall; long, bright green leaves, 20-40 cm (8-16 in.), with wide bases and narrowing at tip; flower stalk 25 cm (10 in.) or longer, with 5-15 lateral branches and 15-50 flowers; yellow or white petals; mature seed capsules up to 1.4 cm (1/2 in.) long; vegetative in every month.

Time of flowering: Fall - winter.


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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Web master: tmcooper@ufl.edu
Last update: 17 February 2016