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Species library › Tillandsia › Tillandsia biflora
Other Partly documented

Tillandsia biflora

A green-leaved, epiphytic Tillandsia of humid Andean and Central American mountain forests, 30-38 cm tall in flower. Its pale leaf sheaths are spotted purple or dark brown, and its branched inflorescence carries purple-petalled flowers. Most records come from cool cloud forest in the Colombian Andes at 2200-3000 m, so it wants cool, humid, bright conditions rather than lowland heat.

Tillandsia biflora
Photo: Ruiz & Pavon, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Cool-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Humid airBand in Plantistry
Light Dappled lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

It grows as an epiphyte in humid forest and rainforest, in montane and cloud forest along the Andes and in the Central American highlands. Its leaves are soft and green, not silvery, as expected for a species in mist-soaked forest.

Of about 1180 GBIF records with an elevation, 906 are above 2500 m, 261 are at 1500-2500 m and only 16 are below 1500 m. Most are from the Colombian Eastern Cordillera around Bogotá, Boyacá and Cundinamarca. Flora de Nicaragua material comes from 1300-1600 m.

NicaraguaCosta RicaPanamaColombiaVenezuelaEcuadorPeruBolivia

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its Public domain licence, unmodified.