Bromeliads (Dalesmicro)

[Dalesmicro]

While I haven't found many species of cacti near Toluca, there are a number of bromeliads. Some members of this family, are epiphytes. Their roots serve only to attach them to the trees and they gather everthing they need through their leaves,thus the name "air plants". Probably due to the water and nutriant gathering roll of the leaves, this family has developed some very interesting hairs. I will post pictures of the hairs in my through the microscope section and reserve this section for plant and flower pictures.

I attach some pictures of a bromeliad that is blooming now (middle of May), Tillandsia caput-medusa. This is an interesting species in that ants often cut through the leaves and make their nest inside. The last picture shows one such hole.


Tillandsia caput-medusa, Ixtapan de la Sal, Estado de Mexico, May 15, 2009:

[Saguaro123]

Nice Bromeliads. I just love how these grow and how unique they are.
Do you see any like this in Toluca?

[Dalesmicro]

Hi Byron, Your two plants look like they come from an area that has more evenenly distributed rainfall than in the State of Mexico where we have a 6 month dry season. That said, there may be some similar species in the rare wetter areas in the state. There is a better chance of finding this type of plant in the states of Chiapas, Verecruz, and Oaxaca. Unfortunately, unless one is familiar with the local flora, many Bromeliads can only be identified when they bloom. Dale

[Saguaro123]

Those are taken by the Arenal Lake in Costa Rica.

[Dalesmicro]

Some pictures of another bromeliad, Tillandsia ionantha, also taken near Ixtapan de la Sal, Estado de Mexico. The pictures were taken May5, 2007. The white, thready thing in the second picture is a seed from an older plant.

[Dalesmicro]

Here are some pictures of Tillandsia cossonii. The field pictures were taken near Temescaltepec, Estado de Mexico on Nov. 2, 2007, the closeups in Toluca on Dec. 3rd of the same year.

We saw the some bright red bromeliads high up in the trees as we rounded a curve as we were returning to Toluca from Tejupilco. It was getting dark and the plants were in trees on the other side of a river, but I took some pictures any way.

I wanted to go back and take some better pictures, but had to wait until after spending Thanksgiving in Colorado. Fortunately, the plants were still blooming, but were in deep shade even at mid day.

I gave up on taking any better pictures of the flower and was returning to Toluca when I saw a man and his family walking along the road, carrying bromeliads to sell in Temescaltepec.

I turned the car around and asked for permission to take some pictures, but he insisted that if I wanted pictures I had to buy the plant. It was almost 5 feet tall and filled up the entire back seat, but I was able to get some closeups of the flowers (and some pollen)