Thursday, December 6, 2012

Tilly of the Month: Tillandsia ixioides

Tillandsia ixioides hails from Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. It's massively coated in silver trichomes, so its usual color is silver except after being watered, when it turns green.

It's a difficult one to find, because it is extremely hard to ship anywhere. This is because its spiky leaves are as brittle as glass. The leaves could probably be used as weapons by smaller creatures, they resemble jousting weapons.  But if you find one, do give it a try, as it's quite beautiful and unique. The flowers are yellow, which is unusual for a Tilly (most have magenta to purple blooms).

2 comments:

  1. This is a great & unusual looking Tilly. Love its macho spiky leaves, and it looks quite large, well compared to a usneoides anyway. :)

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  2. It's one tough Tilly, that's for sure! It can actually spike me when I'm getting it into the water bucket, ow!

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