Tillandsia baileyi
Family: Bromeliaceae
Plant Description: Leaves are gray with spiral arms curled to a point, up to 12 inches long, covered with water-absorbing scales. Flowers are subtended by pink or red bracts petals 3, bluish, up to 1 1/8 inch long. Fruit are capsules up to 1 1/2 inches long, splitting into 3 parts to release hairy seeds.
Plant Trivia: Epiphyte growing in clumps. Pollinated by hummingbirds. Has affinity for Texas Ebony. Threatened by introduced Fox Squirrel in Lower Rio Grande Valley.
Field Identification: Very colorful bromeliads when in bloom. Leaves wider than Ball Moss (T. recurvata); much rarer
Occurrence: Coastal counties from Nueces south to Rio Grande Valley
Bloom Period: Spring
Plant Use:
Key to Tallandsia species:
1. Stems long, hairlike…………………………………………………………………………T. usneoides
Stems short or absent…………………………………………………………………………………………2
2. Leaves mostly 1 – 2 mm wide………………………………………………………….T. recurvata
Leaves wider…………………………………………………………………………………………….T. baileyi
stxflora 