Tillandsia albida: The Desert Dweller

Tillandsia albida, which means White Tillie, is so very, very white, you might think it's dead....

Tillandsia albida, ready to bloom. MRobb

But that is because it lives in one of the hottest, roughest, toughest deserts in the world. The Chihuahuan Desert of Northern Mexico is high elevation, and dry, dry, dry, as it is what is known as a "rain shadow" desert sandwiched between two mountain ranges. This Tillie, in its native habitat, gets a wee bit of water in June or July, and that's about it. So the intensely white, thick trichomes reflect harsh sunlight and retard water loss. The leaves are exceptionally tough and hard. It was named by intrepid naturalists Mez and Purpus in 1916.

My T. albida does just fine with a weekly soak along with my other Tillies.  The plant grows along a central stalk and blooms from the same stalk. It then grows several new stalks from the sides of the main stalk. The total length can be about 30cm, and the leaves grow to about 6-12cm. If you grow it in less intense sunlight, it will darken up slightly, but not much. It's quite the roughty-toughty Tillie!

Tillie of the Month: Tillandsia karwinskyana

This month's Tillandsia is getting ready to bloom. It will only bloom once, so here's the portrait:

Tillandsia karwinskyana, MR, 2013

T. karwinskyana was named in honor of a botany bloke named Karwinsky, who collected the first to be catalogued in Mexico in 1830.  It grows in the states of Nuevo Leon and San Luis Potosi. This is a high-altitude Tillie, and likes to be about 2000m up a mountain. The leaves are tough and silvery. The plant forms a rosette, so this distinguishes it from its lookalike, Tillandsia albida (another high-altitude Mexican Tillie). Tillandsia albida grows along a stem, rather than in a rosette:

Tillandsia albida, MR, 2013

When T. karwinskyana blooms, the flowers will be a gentle lilac. The pups emerge from the base, among the roots, and grow in the opposite direction to the mother plant! The pups tend to fall off when about 1cm long, and go roaming to find their own space. Like Daniel Boone, T. karwinskyana needs its elbow room!