Bromeliaceae

Tillandsia aeranthos

Spanish moss

blushing bromeliad

Vriesea duvaliana

Bromeliaceae, the pineapple family of the flowering plants (order Poales), with more than 3,000 species across 56 genera. All but one species are native to the tropical New World and the West Indies. Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) and the edible fruit of the pineapple (Ananas comosus) are the major economic products of the family, though the fibrous leaves of some species (e.g., Aechmea magdalenae and Neoglaziovia variegata) are made into rope, fabric, and netting in some regions. Additionally, several species are cultivated indoors as ornamentals for their colourful flowers and foliage, and a number of epiphytic Tillandsia species, known as air plants, are sold as novelties.

Members of Bromeliaceae are herbaceous evergreen perennials with simple spirally arranged leaves. Many bromeliads are short-stemmed epiphytes that live in trees or on cacti, though a number are terrestrial. The flowers have three parts, like lilies but with contrasting sepals and petals, and are often borne in long spikes with distinctive coloured bracts. Most have fleshy fruit, but some produce dry capsules.

The largest known bromeliad is the giant Puya raimondii of Peru and Bolivia, which may grow to more than 10 metres (33 feet) in height and is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The leaf rosettes of some rainforest species, known as tank bromeliads, form a hollow tube that collects water and serves as a habitat for a number of animal species, including the bromeliad tree frog (Bromeliohyla bromeliacia). Interestingly, at least three species of tank bromeliads (Brocchinia reducta, B. hectioides, and Catopsis berteroniana) are known to be carnivorous. (See Life in a Bromeliad Pool.)