Species

Tillandsia cacticola is a silvery-leaved epiphytic bromeliad native to Peru. It typically grows on cacti and other xerophytic plants in arid environments. It produces a branched inflorescence with lavender to pale purple flowers and distinctive inflated bracts.

Known for its sweetly fragrant, purple flowers. A small, caulescent species with silver-gray leaves, native to the dry forests of Ecuador and Peru.

Native to Jamaica, restricted to limestone formations. It resembles T. utriculata but is smaller and grows lithophytically.

A small, clump-forming species native to Bolivia and Argentina. It has brownish-gray leaves and produces fragrant, brown-spotted yellow flowers.

Historically treated as a species but often considered a synonym or variety of Tillandsia fasciculata. It shares the characteristic stiff, gray leaves and colorful spikes.

A Caribbean species found in Cuba and Jamaica. It is a small epiphyte with gray-green leaves, sometimes confused with T. berteroniana.

Tillandsia capillaris is a small, highly variable epiphytic bromeliad distributed across a wide range in South America. It has very slender, hair-like silvery leaves and produces small, tubular flowers. It commonly grows in large clusters on trees, cacti, and rocks.

Endemic to Mexico. It forms a rosette of gray, lepidote leaves and produces a simple, flattened inflorescence with yellow flowers.

A highly variable and hardy species native to Mexico and the Caribbean, growing both epiphytically on trees and saxicolously on rocks and cliff faces. Forms a rosette of soft, velvety, silvery-green leaves that change to peach, pink, or red when approaching bloom. Extremely variable in size and coloration, with numerous cultivars including Peach, Red, Yellow, and Maroon forms. One of the most drought-tolerant Tillandsias. Produces purple tubular flowers from a compact head-like inflorescence.

One of the most widespread and commonly cultivated Tillandsia species, named for its resemblance to the serpentine hair of the mythological Medusa. Features thick, channeled leaves up to 25 cm long that twist and curl from an inflated pseudobulb base. The bulbous base often hosts ant colonies in the wild. Native from Mexico through Central America, distributed from sea level to 2,400 meters. Produces red inflorescences with violet tubular flowers. A silver-leaved species adapted to drought conditions.

Native to Bolivia. It resembles T. vernicosa but differs in floral details. The leaves are stiff and gray, adapted to seasonally dry habitats.

Tillandsia carminea is a small epiphytic bromeliad native to Ecuador and Peru. It produces narrow, silver-scaled leaves and vivid carmine-red floral bracts with tubular violet flowers, making the inflorescence visually distinctive.

A rupicolous species from the dry forests of Guatemala, featuring a long inflorescence with purple flowers.

Native to the Brazilian states of Pernambuco and Alagoas, where it grows as an epiphyte at about 700 m. The specific epithet refers to the Catende area on the border between the two states, where the species was originally collected.

A caulescent bromeliad species distinguished by its stem-forming growth habit. Originally described as Cryptanthus caulescens, it was transferred to Rokautskyia in 2017 based on molecular and morphological analyses. The species is characterized by its distinctive stem development, which sets it apart from acaulescent relatives in the Cryptanthoid complex. Endemic to the Atlantic Forest region of eastern Brazil.

Tillandsia caulescens is a caulescent (stem-forming) epiphytic bromeliad native to South America. It develops an elongated stem bearing small, silver-scaled leaves arranged alternately, and produces a simple spike inflorescence with tubular flowers.

Tillandsia cauliflora is a small epiphytic bromeliad native to South America. It is characterized by its caulescent growth habit and produces flowers along the stem. The leaves are narrow and covered with silver scales.

Tillandsia cauligera is an epiphytic bromeliad native to Peru. It is a caulescent species with elongated stems and narrow, silver-scaled leaves. The inflorescence is a simple spike bearing tubular flowers.

Tillandsia celata is a small epiphytic bromeliad native to Brazil. It belongs to the green-leaved (mesic) group and typically grows in humid forest environments. The leaves are soft and green, arranged in a rosette.

Known from Pernambuco, Brazil, at around 600 m elevation. The specific epithet comes from the Greek kephale, meaning head, in reference to the head-like inflorescence.

Tillandsia cereicola is a small to medium-sized epiphytic bromeliad native to South America. As the name suggests, it is commonly found growing on columnar cacti (Cereus and related genera). It has silver-scaled, narrow leaves typical of xeric species.

Tillandsia cernua is a small epiphytic bromeliad native to Mexico and Central America. It has narrow, recurved leaves covered with silver trichomes and produces a simple inflorescence with small tubular flowers. The species name 'cernua' refers to the nodding or drooping habit of the inflorescence.

Tillandsia cerosa is a small to medium-sized epiphytic bromeliad native to South America. It has narrow, silvery leaves forming a compact rosette. The inflorescence produces distichous (two-ranked) floral bracts with tubular flowers.

Tillandsia cerrateana is an epiphytic bromeliad native to Peru. It belongs to the xeric group and is characterized by its dense trichome coverage giving the leaves a silvery appearance. The species was described from specific localities in Peru.

Tillandsia chacomasensis is an epiphytic bromeliad native to the Chaco region of South America. It features silvery, narrow leaves adapted to the hot and seasonally dry climate of the Gran Chaco.

Tillandsia chaetophylla is an epiphytic bromeliad native to South America. It is characterized by very slender, thread-like (chaetophyllous) leaves densely covered with trichomes. It typically forms clumps on trees and shrubs.

Tillandsia chalcatzingensis is an epiphytic bromeliad native to Mexico, specifically described from the Chalcatzingo area of Morelos state. It is adapted to seasonally dry conditions and features silvery trichome-covered leaves.

Tillandsia champaraensis is an epiphytic bromeliad native to Peru, described from the Champará area. It has characteristics typical of Andean xeric tillandsias, with silvery leaves and adaptations to dry montane environments.

Tillandsia chapalillaensis is an epiphytic bromeliad native to Mexico, described from the Chapalilla area of Nayarit state. It has narrow, trichome-covered leaves adapted to seasonally dry tropical forests.

Tillandsia chapeuensis is an epiphytic bromeliad native to Brazil. It belongs to the xeric silver-leaved group, characterized by a dense covering of trichomes (specialized scales) that give the leaves a silvery-gray appearance. It is associated with the cerrado (Brazilian savanna) and related open, seasonally dry vegetation.

Tillandsia chartacea is an epiphytic bromeliad native to Ecuador and Peru. Its name derives from the papery texture ('chartacea' means paper-like) of its floral bracts. It has green to grayish leaves and produces a distinctive flattened inflorescence.

Tillandsia circinnatioides is an epiphyte endemic to south-central Mexico (Puebla, México, Guerrero, Oaxaca), growing on cacti, trees, and shrubs in dry areas at 600–1500 m.

A terrestrial species endemic to Mexico, characterized by thick, leathery, heart-shaped leaves with prominent white venation against a dark green background. Leaves can reach 15-25 cm in length with a velvety texture. The petioles are thick and angular. Produces inconspicuous greenish inflorescences followed by orange berries.

A small saxicolous species with a distinctive spike, discovered in 2005 and formally described in 2008. Related to T. durangensis but distinguished by long dark brown leaf sheaths, leaf blades only 2 cm wide above the sheath, a much shorter inflorescence stem of 10 to 15 cm, and shorter but wider spikes measuring 6 to 12 cm long and up to 2.5 cm wide.

Tillandsia concolor is an epiphyte native from southern Mexico to El Salvador, occurring in the seasonally dry tropical biome at elevations of about 500–1200 m.

A medium-sized mesic species approximately 25 cm tall, found in montane forests. The gray-green leaves sometimes tint reddish in strong light. The inflorescence is branched with bright red-orange scape bracts and reddish floral bracts coated with a waxy powder, bearing purple flowers. Described by Andre in 1888.

A vigorous climber native to Central America. The adult leaves are entire at the margins but typically develop fenestrations (holes) within the blade. It is often confused with Monstera adansonii but can be distinguished by thicker leaves and floral details. The juvenile leaves are entire and imperforate.

A species named in honor of botanist Thomas Croat. It is a hemiepiphyte with entire, narrowly ovate to lanceolate leaves that do not develop fenestrations. The petioles are vaginate (sheathed) for most of their length. It is found in premontane rainforests.

A terrestrial species prized for its large, velvety, heart-shaped leaves featuring prominent silver-white venation. Leaves can reach 40-60 cm in length and have a dark green to nearly black coloration. The inflorescence is inconspicuous with a greenish spathe and spadix. New leaves emerge with a bronze or reddish tint.

A medium-sized epiphytic bromeliad forming stemless rosettes up to 50 cm wide. The narrow, recurved leaves are dark green with reddish-brown striations at the base. The distinctive paddle-shaped inflorescence features densely packed rose-pink bracts up to 16 cm long, from which fragrant violet-blue flowers emerge successively. The species name "cyanea" refers to the deep blue color of the flowers. Formerly classified as Tillandsia cyanea, it was reassigned to Wallisia in 2016 based on phylogenetic analysis.

Native to Brazil, growing terrestrially or epiphytically at elevations from near sea level to about 1,200 m. The type material was collected in Sao Paulo state.