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A Tillandsia Primer
 
Seeing your plants flourish every day is one of the intimate joys of indoor gardening. But for many people, caring for plants, let alone a species as exotic as air plants, can be daunting. I’ve been immersed in the world of air plant cultivation for quite a while now, and my work at the nursery has given me the opportunity to refine my knowledge about these quirky plants and their care. When people come into the nursery and ask for assistance with picking out an air plant, I enjoy providing them with information that helps them choose a plant that suits their creative sensibilities and lifestyle. To get you started with your own air plants, on the following pages you’ll find background information about the species and its native habitat as well as practical guidance on everything from providing your plants with the right amount of light and the best method for watering them to recognizing signs of ill health and choosing good companion plants.

Understanding Air Plants
 
Classification
Tillandsias, more widely known as air plants, make up the largest genus in the bromeliad family, encompassing more than 600 species. While the pineapple is the most well-known—and only edible—bromeliad, it is a diverse family of plants with a vast array of colors and patterns in its foliage and a strong tropical appearance. Tillandsias are unusual members of this plant family. Their primary distinguishing features are their limited root function (tillandsia roots are used strictly to attach themselves to a host, such as a tree, to gain optimal light exposure) and sole reliance on leaves for absorbing water. The rest of the bromeliad family collects water through an internal reservoir, or central cup, created by the tight overlapping of their centermost leaves, and are referred to as tank-type bromeliads. These bromeliads are typically seen planted upright in soil.

It is a common misconception that air plants don’t need water or light like other plants. They do indeed need water and light—they simply have a less traditional means of obtaining these elements. Though it may be seem more formal to use tillandsia as the common name for this plant, the name “air plant” is a bit of a misnomer. Air plants, scientifically defined, can refer to any plant that grows epiphytically, meaning without any soil or substrate, typically upon other plants or surfaces and deriving its moisture and nutrients from the air.

Epiphytes (air plants) include the majority of orchids, mosses, and liverworts; some succulents and ferns; algae; and nearly the rest of the bromeliad family. The notion of something living on air suggests, wrongly, that no steps need to be taken to care for tillandsias in or around the home. It is for these reasons that I usually refer to plants in the genus as tillandsias.
 
About Scientific Plant Names
The scientific, or Latin, name of a plant consists of two parts. The first part of the Latin name is the name of the genus and is always capitalized. (The genus Tillandsia is named after Swedish botanist Elias Tillands.) The genus describes a group of plants that are closely related—plants in a genus are usually similar in appearance or DNA structure. The second part is the name of the species, which is a subgroup within the genus, and is not capitalized. The species name is often a descriptive word that offers a clue about the plant’s physical characteristics or where it came from. For example, the scientific name Tillandsia streptophylla tells you that the leaves of the plant are curly, because strepto comes from the Greek word for twisted, and phylla comes from the Greek word for leaves. Why use scientific names for plants? Common names can be misleading because many plants share a common name, and the common name for a plant can vary from region to region, whereas Latin names are specific to a single plant only.
 
About Epiphytes
Epiphytes are plants that anchor on another plant—called a host plant—but take no nourishment from the host plant (they’re not parasitic). They use the host to reach a location that provides them with sufficient air and light, and they live on nutrients drawn from the air, rainwater, and organic debris that accumulates around them. They can also anchor on inanimate objects such as a telephone wire.