One of the more unusual of all Tillandsias because of its habit of producing offsets all along its three foot long inflorescence, as well as in the more usual manner. A handsome plant with rather stiff leaves arranged in a more open rosette. This form of flexuosa is apparently native only to Venezuela, with two major colonies of slightly different plants. One colony occurs on the north coast where it often grows in large numbers in shrubs, trees and cacti on the seaside cliffs. Large clusters of these plants weigh down the limbs of the local scrub-type vegetation, often breaking loose and falling into the sea.

The other colony is in the Andes, near Merida, where it grows mainly in large clusters on the ground and in some low shrubbery. This form has thicker leaves and is larger and more open in shape. An easy to grow species that thrives mounted in a warm environment. 

A large robust species with thick, leathery leaves is a rock dweller from central Mexico. Reddish foliage in an open rosette and a showy, tall inflorescence of orange. A choice plant that is easy to grow and can be potted or mounted.

This plant and another similar lithophytic plant from Temascal, Veracruz, Mexico both strongly resemble the ‘true’ Tillandsia capitata from Cuba. This plant comes from a drier part of Chiapas, a state in S.W. Mexico, differs in that it is lighter in color, covered with a layer of silvery trichomes. At anthesis, it blushes pink on the upper leaves. The flowers are deep blue and tightly tubular in shape. The true capitata species has as yet not been officially recognized from the mainland, being currently known only from Cuba and Hispaniola.