What's That?

In my last blog, I did not identify the beautiful miniature bromeliad. Now it's the time to do that. It's "Tillandsia ionantha!"

Tillandsia ionantha is a species of the genus Tillandsia which is native to Costa Rica and Mexico. This tiny plant has leaves with hue in deep shade of green, turning to a beautiful red/pink color before its purple and yellow colored tiny blooms appear that last a few days. That's the color you saw in my blog of Wednesday, April 9th, 2014. After blooming, the leaves return to its green color as seen here. The genus Tillandsia has about 650 species. I have another species that was shown in a previous blog. I identified it as Tillandsia tenuifolia. That was incorrect! Instead, my other miniature bromeliad is Tillandsia stricta. I now stand corrected. Now I have the desire to look for others of this beautiful genus to add to the two I now have. Will this ever end?