Tillandsia fasciculata
One of the larger atmospheric tillandsias, also called the giant wild pine or cardinal airplant. It has a stiff, grey-green rosette and branched red-and-yellow flower bracts. It is widespread from Florida and the West Indies through Mexico and Central America to northern South America, growing on trees in seasonally dry to moist forests from near sea level to about 2300 m. Give it bright light, lots of air movement, and water that dries off within hours.
Where it grows wild
It is an epiphyte on branches and trunks across a wide range of lowland and montane woodland, from dry deciduous forest and scrub to moister forest. In Florida it grows in hammocks and swamps, and in Colombia it spans several biogeographic regions. Its rosette of silvery, scale-covered leaves catches rain and dew, and it tolerates exposed, sunny perches. In Florida, the introduced Mexican bromeliad weevil has badly depleted wild populations.
Colombian flora data give 10-2300 m. Few GBIF records carry an elevation. The records span coastal Florida, the Caribbean and the Yucatán, and also Costa Rica's Central Valley at about 1000-1500 m.
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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.