Tillie of the Month: Tillandsia seleriana

Ah, the mysterious alien plant featured in the movie "Avatar", how I wanted to add thee to my collection! Normally, I don't go hankering after a particular species or cultivar, but after seeing Tillandsias featured in a major movie, I really wanted to find a T. seleriana. Finally, I found one at this spring's botany festival:

Tillie seleriana was named in 1903 after Alert Gardener Seler (no idea about the first name). It's a native of southern Mexico and likes to live at altitudes of about 200-2,000m. It's a 20cm silver Tillie with a massive bulb. You would think it is quite heavy but in fact it's as light as paper. Why?

The bulb chambers are hollow. It turns out that T. seleriana is a myrmecophyte. A whaaaa??? It's an Ant Plant!
Many Tillies are Ant Plants, including T. butzii, T. caput medusae, T. paucifolia, and T. bulbosa. I'll do a separate post on myrmecophytism once I figure out how to pronounce it.  Suffice to say that the plants like the ants because they help to keep them fed and watered, and in return, the Tillie gives the ants a way cool house. T. seleriana generally grows in oak forests or in dry, piney woods. Sometimes it needs a little help getting adequate water and minerals, and so the ants come to the rescue.

If you are growing a T. seleriana, give it some good light and a weekly soak. It doesn't really need mistings in between soaks, but a light mist is fine. The really important thing about T. seleriana, and all myrmecophytic Tillandsias, is that they drain upside down after a soak. Water cannot linger in those chambers or the plant will rot pronto. Some people like to grow them upside down in order to avoid this very problem, but you can simply drain the Tillie after watering by keeping it in an upside-down position for an hour or so. T. seleriana also needs good air circulation but does not demand high humidity. It is certainly an extravagantly weird Tillie!

What is Tillandsia "Califano"??

Tillandsia "Califano", MR, 2013

I found this Tillie about a year ago at a garden show. It was labeled merely "Califano". Of course, I knew by it's charming rootlessness that it was a Tillandsia. But I'd never heard of a "Califano", and it wasn't listed in my Padilla or Isley books.

T. "Califano" next to T. filifolia

The only reference I can find to it is on the BSI Online Cultivar Registry, which states that T. califano is actually a T. ionantha x T. baileyi.  It's a very sturdy Tillie, about 12cm tall,  with a lovely, deep emerald color. The inflorescence is dark pink with purple flowers. Supposedly it's a natural cross from northern Mexico, but a different source states that it is a cultivated hybrid. So my Tillie of the Month is a bit of a mystery.

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!

Tilly of the Month: Tillandsia juncea

Tillandsia juncea is a vital part of any air plant collection. Tall and graceful, it resembles pampas grass. T. juncea grows to nearly a half-meter in height. It flowers and pups rather spectacularly.  Here is the main pup from one of mine (you can see "The Spirit of the Lithops" peeking through the leaves):

Tillandsia juncea, MR 2013

T. juncea grows in many countries- Bolivia, Brazil, and Venezuela in South America, and Costa Rica and Mexico in Central America. It's a very tough Tillie, but needs excellent air circulation. If it is kept damp without a good breeze, it will quickly rot at the base. It should never be "pseudo-planted" in moss or dirt. Give this Tillie its space and fresh air, and it will really take off. Medium-bright light is best.

As you can see here, after blooming its one and only time, T. juncea pups at the base. Several pups will grow, but only one will be dominant, in this case, the one on the far left. You can just leave them to grow in clumps, or separate the pup with it's about the size of the large one above. I do not know if, when you separate the dominant pup from the mother plant, other pups will begin to grow more vigorously. I'll let you know what happens if I decide to experiment.