Tillandsia stricta, illustration by Margaret Mee, Smithsonian InstitutionSave Florida's Native Bromeliads, Powdery Strap Airplant
 
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Above illustration,
"Tillandsia stricta,"
by Margaret Mee,
© Smithsonian Institution,
used with permission.


 		   

Scientific name:  Catopsis berteroniana (J.A. and J.H. Shultes) Mez.

Catopsis berteroniana

Other common names: Powdery catopsis, West Indies catopsis, yellow catopsis, mealy wild pine

Status in Florida: Endangered

Threats to this plant: Illegal collecting, Mexican bromeliad weevil (Metamasius callizona), habitat destruction

Distribution: Florida, Mexico, West Indies, Central and South America

Distribution in Florida: Collier, Miami-Dade, and mainland Monroe Counties

Occurrence in Florida: Rare

Habitat: Rockland hammock; slough; marine tidal swamp; usually found in strong light, on high branches of host tree

Description: Tank epiphyte; when flowering, grows to 40 - 130 cm (16-51 in.); leaves are yellowish-green, up to 45 cm (18 in.), with a white, chalky, powdery covering, especially at the base; 15-50 flowers with white petals (1.0 - 1.2 cm; 3/8 - 1/2 in.) develop on a stout scape, usually with 2-8 lateral branches; floral bracts (6-8 mm; 1/4 - 1/3 in.) and sepals (1.2 cm; 1/2 in.) yellow-green; seed capsule 1.5 cm (1/2 - 5/8 in.) long; seeds often germinate on the capsule

Time of flowering: All year (especially fall and winter)

Unusual characteristics: One of 2 known carnivorous bromeliads, it is thought to trap insects in its tank, with a slippery powder on its leaf bases.

References:
Coile, Nancy C. 2000. Notes on Florida's Endangered and Threatened Plants. FDACS/DPI, Bureau of Entomology, Nematology and Plant Pathology, Botany Section. Contribution No. 38, 3rd ed., Gainesville, FL. http://www.virtualherbarium.org/EPAC

Flora of North America Association. 2000. Flora of North America, Vol. 22. http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/FNA

Florida Natural Areas Inventory. 1997. Matrix of Habitats and Distribution by County of Rare/Endangered Species of Florida. Florida Natural Areas Inventory/The Nature Conservancy. http://www.fnai.org

Long, Robert W. and Olga Lakela. 1976. A Flora of Tropical Florida. Banyan Books, Miami.

Ward, Daniel B. (ed.). 1979. Plants, Vol. 5. In: Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida, P.C.H. Pritchard (ed.). University Presses of Florida, Gainesville, 175 p.