A rarely seen small grower from central coastal Mexico. Resembling a seedling of Til. streptophylla with its bulbous base and strap-like curly leaves, it differs from the later in lacking a scape. Please note: in cultivation this species tends to have a smaller base and narrower, less curled leaves.

Perhaps growing ‘harder’ would bring back the wild look. The flowers are formed on a short compound inflorescence. An unusual and desirable collectible.

The granddaddy of fragrant Tillandsias. Native to Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina where the trees in the arid Chaco are filled with this weird and wonderful, highly fragrant species. Having seen many thousands growing wild, I would have to call the plant a ‘vining’ species. The stem may grow to several feet long in older specimens and the leaves reach out and twist into tight curls at the tips. In nature, it may actually climb to the uppermost part of a tree in a few seasons, and many treetops are brimming with dozens of specimens reaching out into space.

The inflorescence is simple or may be branched but bears many very large purple flowers. The fragrance is very strong and a single specimen can perfume an entire garden. Does not root as an adult, so it must be attached with glue or wires to a mount. Best results may come from suspending the plant from a string or wire and hanging it in a bright airy spot. Easiest of all the fragrant Tillandsias to cultivate.

A beautiful caulescent plant with short, broadly triangular, silvery-gray leaves and a stunning red-flowered inflorescence. A native of Bolivia where it lives a lithophytic existence on sheer rock cliffs, hanging in massive cascades. Care-free to grow, when mounted in a pendant fashion it freely produces offsets along its old stem, soon forming large attractive clusters.

Our stock came from a collection we made in 1993 in Bolivia. The excitement still lingers when I think of my fist encounter with the species in the wild. We had been traveling the rugged canyons that lay between ridge after ridge of the Cordillera de los Andes on Bolivia’s rugged and desolate eastern frontier.

On our satellite maps the terrain appeared to have been clawed by a giant jaguar, leaving parallel grooves hundreds of miles long etched deeply into the altiplano. We were weary from several weeks travel having seldom enjoyed a bed or hot meal. It remains a mystery why in such a relatively rich habitat for Tillandsias such as this, that one can travel for many miles and endless hours and not see a single plant! But on this dusty day our luck changed.

In a deep gorge where the escarpment walls seemed to rise and close in, causing dark shadows across the valley floor, we came into an incredible sight. Our first hint was an isolated cliff, across a muddy stream, that had a small colony of a caulescent Tillandsia. Crossing the stream, a break in the monotony of the day, I carried collecting pole and camera towards the cliff. Distance deceives among the stone monoliths of these haunting canyons and as the ‘bushes’ at the cliff base became large trees at my approach, so also did the Tillandsias disappear into the forest canopy.

Reaching the base of the cliff, I couldn’t even see the plants that lured me in the first place, as they were easily over a hundred feet overhead obscured by the canopy of the forest. However, with adrenaline coursing as it does when victory or discovery is in the wind, we drove onward to our reward. Not over a mile further on, the cliffs, which towered hundreds of feet tall, were covered with Tillandsias as far as the eye could see. Approaching this time we discovered that our long awaited prize was Tillandsia edithae!

Buy one now and save the bone-jarring, dust-eating, dangerous trip to Bolivia’s eastern desert.

A lithophytic jewel from the southern Mexican state of Chiapas is a very desirable and unusual species. A medium sized plant that may grow to a foot tall or so, and obtain the girth of a tennis ball, but much larger specimens are sometimes seen in collections. The leaves are terete and mostly erect, often contorted and are covered with a silvery scurf. The inflorescence is an erect, stout, branched pinkish spike. Very easy to cultivate mounted or potted in light media. There is some considerable discussion that this is actually a natural hybrid, but that has no bearing on the fact that it is an outstanding plant.

Tillandsia exserta features a unique and slender shape, with white, arching leaves and a red inflorescence with violet flowers. This species grows in the drier, hotter conditions of Mexico. A unique species of Tillandsia.

A superior version of the typical T. fasciculata with stiff greenish gray leaves in an upright rosette and a multi-branched spike of red, yellow and orange. Very nice!

This is an unidentified species that is at least similar to fasciculata and with a ‘Pink & Green’ inflorescence. We have had this for many years and in the interim have lost the locality data for it. We believe that this was originally from Mexico, but may be mistaken. Too bad, because this data is important when trying to identify plants. At any rate, this is a nice and colorful, fairly large-growing Tillandsia worthy of space in your collection!

Native to the dry woods and scrub of northwest Mexico.

*Plants budded as of 5/30/2025

The Florida native form of this widespread species which has a range that runs from Florida and the Bahamas to Northern South America. An upright, tubular, vase-shaped plant with broadly tapering, spiraled leaves. The color is brownish-green with a coating of silver trichomes that normally forms in bands. The inflorescence is tall, thin and usually branched, normally green in Florida, but can be reddish sometimes. The flowers are arranged at right angles and are rosy/pink. Often a twig epiphyte in nature, it is easy to grow mounted. Keep warm, (above 40's) as this is an especially tropical species that in Florida is restricted to the southern Everglades and coastal regions of South Florida.

VIPP Plants Budded as of 08/25/25