Tillandsia ultima
A high-Andean epiphytic Tillandsia of cold, wet montane cloud forest and treeline scrub in Colombia and Ecuador, found at about 2100β3200 m. It is listed as Endangered in the Colombian Red Book of plants and is rarely cultivated. Unlike the silvery air plants sold in shops, it needs cool, constantly humid conditions.
Where it grows wild
Herbarium labels describe rich montane forest, cloud forest in ravines and high-altitude forest at the treeline. These include the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and PΓ‘ramo de Frontino in Colombia, and the Otavalo and Mojanda cloud forests in Imbabura, Ecuador. It grows as an epiphyte on trees and shrubs in these misty forests.
Specimens are from 2110β3200 m: about 2100β2450 m on the eastern slopes of Ecuador, and 2950β3200 m in Azuay, Imbabura and at the Colombian sites.
π 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 Public domain licence, unmodified.