Tillandsia recurvata

Plant Characteristics
Habit		bromeliad
Height:	⇕	4 in"in" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 4.
Width:	⇔	2.5 in"in" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 2.5. to 8 in"in" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 8.
Lifespan:	⌛	perennial
Bloom:	❀	early summer, mid summer, late summer

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	part-sun
Features:	✓	flowers, houseplant
USDA Zones:		11 to 12
Flower features:	❀	blue, purple

Scientific Names
Bromeliaceae >	Tillandsia >	recurvata >

Tillandsia recurvata, commonly known as Ball Moss, is a flowering plant (not a true moss) that grows upon larger host plants. It grows well in areas with low light, little airflow, and high humidity, which is commonly provided by southern shade trees, often the Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana).^[1] It is not a parasite like mistletoe, but an epiphyte like its relative Spanish moss. It derives only physical support and not nutrition from its host, photosynthesizing its own food, receiving water vapor from the air,^[1] and obtaining nitrogen from bacteria.^[2] Although Ball Moss can hinder tree growth by competing for sunlight and some nutrients, it usually does not affect healthy specimens.^[1] It tends to form a spheroid shape ranging in size from a golf ball to a soccer ball. Local spread of Ball Moss occurs by windblown seed.^[1] Ball Moss is sensitive to freezing, particularly when moist.^[3]

Ball Moss can be found in the Americas, from the southern United States (Florida to Arizona) south to Argentina and Chile.^[4]

Read about Tillandsia recurvata in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
Tillandsia recurvata, Linn. (T. Bartramii, Ell., at least in part). A few inches high, tufted, with scurfy terete or filiform recurved 2-ranked lvs.: fls. 1-5 on spike that is sheathed at the base but naked above, the corolla blue and exceeding the calyx. Fla. to Argentina and Chile. ^CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

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Propagation

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Pests and diseases

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Species

Gallery

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References

Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

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↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Template:Cite video
↑ Puente, Maria-Esther and Bashan, Yoav (March 1994). "The desert epiphyte Tillandsia recurvata harbours the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Pseudomonas stutzeri". Canadian Journal of Botany 72 (3): 406–8.
↑ Hagar, CF (1990) (M.S. Thesis). The effect of water content, cooling rate, and growth temperature on the freezing temperature of 4 Tillandsia species. Texas A&M University.
↑ Correll, Donovan Stewart and Johnston, Marshall Conring (1970). Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas. Renner, Texas: Texas Research Foundation. p. 356.

[crow-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Template:Cite video

[2] Puente, Maria-Esther and Bashan, Yoav (March 1994). "The desert epiphyte Tillandsia recurvata harbours the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Pseudomonas stutzeri". Canadian Journal of Botany 72 (3): 406–8.

[3] Hagar, CF (1990) (M.S. Thesis). The effect of water content, cooling rate, and growth temperature on the freezing temperature of 4 Tillandsia species. Texas A&M University.

[4] Correll, Donovan Stewart and Johnston, Marshall Conring (1970). Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas. Renner, Texas: Texas Research Foundation. p. 356.

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