Family: Bromeliad
Sub-Family: Tillandsioideae:
Genus: Tillandsia
Sub-Genus:
Native distribution: Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, from sea-level to about 2400m.
Habit: The arrangement of leaves tend to grow in a spiral around the central stem of the plant with each leaf curved in the same direction, so from above it can look like an amazing symmetrical circle. The cross section of the leaf has a deep concave form, while length wise the leaves also curve outwards and down from the stem which means there is no section of the leaf that is exposed to full direct sun for an extended period of the day - the curves create shadows. In nature dead tissue can also assist the plant in hot dry conditions by creating shadows. Most Tillandsia that have developed this growth habit use it as a means of surviving in hot conditions.
Over time, when the plant produces pups it can form a ball like clump. This is a beautiful species when well grown.
Foliage: The leaves of ixioides are quite thick and stiff with a silvery colour and are heavily covered with trichomes.
Flowers: The plant has bright yellow flowers when it blooms which is not common among Tillandsias.
Seed:
Pups:
Cultivation: Although it is easy to grow in bright light and hot dry conditions it will respond to regular misting in summer, reduce water in winter. I have grown it in temperatures up to 45 degrees C and down to near freezing. However, like all Tillandsias, do not water the plant and let it sit in hot bright sun, this will burn off the trichomes and it will lose its reflective protection, (some trichomes reflect 93% of the light that falls on them) it will dehydrate and may take years to recover or even worse die. Mist or water at a time so the plant has time to dry out before the heat of the day.
Fertilization: A mist every week with Epiphyites Delight or Epsom salts during the growing season will help the plant.
( Epiphyte’s Delight fertilizer was developed for a special reason. Nitrogen promotes foliar growth. If you have Tillandsias, Orchids, or other epiphytes and you feed them, take a look at the nitrogen content. If it’s high in urea, the plants can’t use it because the urea needs a bacteria in soil to break it down into ammonia and nitrates. Since the epiphytes don’t have any soil they can’t break down the urea. It was for this reason that we had Epiphyte’s Delight formulated. It contains only ammoniacal and nitrate nitrogen which is immediately accessible and usable by the plants.)
Availability:
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