Just Some Good Ol' Spanish Moss

I don't shop Black Friday. Seething, angry crowds crazed by greedy delusions of savings is sort of a Hell Realm for me. I stay at home, do a little shopping on the Internet, and play board games with the family like chess and Loteria (Mexican Bingo). Call me an introvert....

Tillandsia usneoides can be either a shy introvert, hiding in a tree trunk, or a showy diva, covering every tree in the bayou with silvery drapes that could fatally entangle Godzilla (now there's an image). It's being used for interior decorating, also, as window screens that filter pollutants and give oxygen. Here's a little bowl of it for you all:



T. usneoides, aka Spanish Moss

 It's got the unwieldy name "usneoides" because it supposedly looks like usnea, or beard lichen. But it is not a lichen at all, it's a Tilly. Its flowers are barely noticeable, and it branches more than pups.



Source: Wikimedia

 Most Tillies don't harm their hosts, and some actually help them. But Spanish Moss can grow so heavily that it can take whole branches down, and block the tree's own photosynthesis. Most trees manage well enough, however. Spanish Moss grows all the way from Virginia, USA, to Argentina. It's a remarkable Tilly.

Nothing Pensive This Week....

It's a holiday week with lots and lots of cooking, so I haven't had enough time to be properly pensive. Pensive Tuesday will continue next week!

The Progress of Tillandsia ionantha: Bloom!

The pretty and petite, silvered Tillandsia ionantha hails from Nicaragua. It's a hardy and beautiful Tilly which is frequently crossed with other species because the results are so lovely. (Many crossed Tillies are rather dull by comparison.)

I have several ionanthas and crosses.  This is the first to bloom. First phase, it blushes pinkish red, and here comes a bud!



T. ionantha in bud

More buds follow:



T. ionantha, with ionantha fuego and friends

 And finally, a triple bloom!



T. ionantha in full bloom

On the left is another ionantha, T. ionantha fuego, very fiery indeed!  Once the bloom is over, the plant itself will continue blushing for a while, then a pup will appear at the base. Once the pup is about half the size of the parent plant, it can be removed to grow on its own. And so on it goes....



Lithops of the Month: Karasmontana "Top Red"

One of my very first purchases was also one of my very favorite species of Lithops, karasmontana. Now the naming of Lithops species, as all Lithops enthusiasts know, is maddening on a good day. On bad days, I've been known to just give up trying to figure out which Lithops belongs to which species. With some species, like L. dorotheae, it's pretty easy to figure it out. Ditto "Optica Rubra" and some others that make it easy for us to identify them.

The species L. karasmontana is particularly maddening in that its members often look nothing like each other at all. "Top Red" and "Avocado Cream" belong to the same species??? Gedouttahere!

Here's my lovely "Top Red". It's an easy one to grow, very tough, and gorgeous, too.

Pensive Tuesday: Mysterious Trichomes!

Lithops and other succulents conserve water using many ingenious methods. They can quickly grow fine roots to pull infrequent rain into their succulent leaves. They use CAM photosynthesis to prevent water loss. They have tough skins that resist evaporation. They can be dormant for months and need no moisture at all. They can use their longer taproots to literally pull themselves underground.

But how do Tillandsias do it? Well, they also use CAM photosynthesis. But Tillies have a unique contraption to hold and keep water. The trichome.


from Bromeliad.org.au

Many plants other than bromeliads use a variety of trichomes for a variety of functions, but the Tillandsia trichomes are my subject today. They look  like flowers or shields on the surface of the leaves. The top-facing trichomes are different from those on the undersides of leaves. Tillandsias facing more sun and drought have more of them, and are more silvery/fuzzy as a result. Shady Tillies that are used to more moisture have fewer trichomes, and they look more green and smooth.



from botany.cz



T. magnusiana has lots of trichomes!


Tillandsia trichomes can open and close like trapdoors. They can reflect up to 45% of sunlight, keeping the plant cool and moist, and they can quickly pull in water from either fog or rain.  When this happens, they essentially "lock" to prevent the water from escaping. The plant turns green, and soaks up some sun. Good air circulation resets the trichomes and the cycle can begin again. Amazing!

A mix of Tillies, a mix of trichomes.




Lithops' Weekend Update

Most of the my Lithops are now getting pretty active. Fall and winter are their growing times, after a long, hot summer. My marmorata have doubled in size, but no signs of blooming yet.



Lithops marmorata

 Others are blooming wildly, or getting ready to bloom.

I'm working mostly with red earthenware and Bluebell glaze, it seems especially pretty in the autumn:



Red Earthenware with Amaco Bluebell glaze, MR 2012

Hope your weekend is peaceful and fun, and, if you're from the USA, thank a veteran on Monday!

Today's Special Tilly: Tillandsia filifolia

T. filifolia

The lovely, delicately glowing Tillandsia in the center of the bowl, next to the T. caput medusae, is a Tillandsia filifolia.  Filiform, or threadlike, leaves grow from a spherical base. It's a very small Tilly, only about 15-20cm diameter on average.

Filifolias come from higher elevations in Central Mexico and Costa Rica.

Wikimedia Commons

They like medium to low filtered light, and a lot of humidity. Their flowers are a lovely lavender. They live in zones 10 and 11, or indoors. The key to happy filifolias is a lot of humidity and air movement, though some people grow them successfully in glass orbs. The tips of their leaves turn brown and shrivel if they are not getting enough watering or humidity.

I try to keep my filiform Tillies in the center of the group, where the humidity is highest, and I mist them whenever I think about it, which is fairly often.  They get a good soaking in a bucket two or three times a week. They are a lot of fun to hold in the palm of your hand, and always get compliments from guests.