Tillandsia purpurea
A grey, stiff-leaved Tillandsia endemic to Peru's Pacific coastal desert, where it grows on sand, rock and columnar cacti in the fog-fed lomas and dry hills. It lives almost without rain and drinks mainly from sea fog and dew, so it wants very bright light, strong air movement and quick drying. Herbarium collectors describe the flowers as white edged with strong violet.
Where it grows wild
Herbarium labels describe it in the coastal desert: on sand dunes, loose on bare ground, on rocks and cliffs in lomas (fog-belt) vegetation, and on cacti such as Browningia, Armatocereus and Espostoa in dry forest. It often forms abundant stands where it is almost the only vegetation. The roots only anchor it; water and nutrients come through the grey leaf scales.
GBIF records span 190–2890 m with a median of 752 m, mostly the lomas and lower western Andean slopes; the highest records are probably inland dry valleys.
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More Tillandsia
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.