Tillandsia capitata

Native from Mexico to Honduras and in the Greater Antilles, it is an epiphytic or rock-growing bromeliad of dry tropical habitats. Broad silvery green leaves form an open rosette and may flush yellow, orange, or red around flowering time. A compact central inflorescence produces purple tubular flowers between overlapping colored bracts. It is cultivated as an air plant. New offsets can be separated once they reach about a third of the parent’s size. Photographed in Florida.