Bromeliaceae
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Bromeliads include epiphytes, such as Spanish moss, and ground plants, such as the Pineapple. Many bromeliads have a "tank" formed by their tightly-overlapping leaves, in which they store water. However, the family is diverse enough to include the tank bromeliads, grey-leaved epiphytic Tillandsia species which gather water only from leaf structures called trichomes, and even a large number of desert-dwelling succulents.
The largest bromeliad is Puya raimondii, which reaches 3m tall in vegetative growth with a flower spike 9-10m tall, and the smallest is probably Spanish moss, Tillandsia usneoides.
Genera
External links
Bromeliads as of 2002-06-18
Bromeliad Society International
Puya raimondii photos