Tillandsia recurvata
A tiny, grey, tightly clustered air plant that forms balls from golf-ball to football size on tree branches, fences and even telephone wires, from the southern United States to northern Argentina and Chile. It takes only support from its host, living on rain, dew and blown dust. At home it wants bright light, frequent brief wetting that dries within hours, and protection from frost while wet.
Where it grows wild
An epiphyte on the branches of larger trees, especially southern live oak in the United States, and also on shrubs, cacti, fences and overhead wires. It tolerates dry, exposed perches as well as the more humid, still air under tree canopies, where it is most abundant.
Few records carry an elevation. It is mainly a lowland plant in the United States and Mexico, but it also grows in the dry inter-Andean valleys of Ecuador (records around Quito lie near 2,400–2,900 m) and in the central Mexican highlands around Mexico City at about 2,200–2,400 m.
🔒 Growing it like that
The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:
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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 CC BY-SA 3.0 licence, unmodified.