Summary ²

Tillandsia setacea, the southern needleleaf, is a species in the genus Tillandsia. It has a scattered, disjunct distribution in the southwestern United States (Florida, Georgia), northwestern and southern Mexico (Jalisco, Sinaloa, Nayarit, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Campeche), Guatemala, the West Indies (Cayman Islands, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico) and the State of Pará in northeastern Brazil.

Description ³

Epiphytic; grows to 30 cm (12 in.) long; plants densely clustered, growing as aggregates of small tufts; leaves dilated at base, flexuous at tips, green to reddish-green in color; flower stalk 8-15 cm (3-6 in.); 315 flowers, 2.5 cm (1 in.) long; violet petals; seed capsule up to 3 cm (1 1/8 in.) long; similar to Tillandsia bartramii except leaves green or reddish and floral bracts green, tinged with red. Source: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/frank/savebromeliads/floridas-bromeliads/Tillandsia-setecea.html

Occurance in Palm Beach County ³

Frequent in some areas and nearly non-existant in others. Common at Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. Rare at Grassy Waters Preserve.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Trish Hartmann, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/21078769@N00/8245285662/
2. Adapted by Jessica Flynn from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tillandsia_setacea
3. (c) Jessica Flynn, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• eFloras.org
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• World Flora Online

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