I have taken 3 trips into Ecuador in the past 5 years, and they have enabled me to learn more and more regarding how bromeliads grow in habitat. Besides getting to enjoy seeing various genera and species, I have become acutely aware of color and form variances within species of bromeliads in habitat. Some of these differences are genetic in nature, while others are due to the environment in which the plant grows. One such plant that has intrigued me in its variance and characteristics is Tillandsia complanata.

For years I was under the impression that Tillandsia complanata was difficult to grow in cultivation due to the elevations at which it is often found. However, now that I have seen various environments in which it grows, I have obtained a number of varieties of this species and have had no trouble growing them at my home in Ohio in the United States; even those from high elevations. They seem unaffected even during the hottest and most humid portions of the year.

Tillandsia complanata has a large range that extends from Costa Rica all the way to Bolivia. It grows strictly as an epiphyte in trees and shrubs and on rock walls at elevations from 750 to 3000 meters. This species is notable for being the only non-terminal blooming bromeliad and the only Tillandsia with real axillary inflorescences. That is, it sends semi-pendant inflorescences from many leaf axils along the bottom portion of the plant, while the...