Tillandsia izabalensis

Native to Central America and Providencia Island in the southwestern Caribbean, this epiphytic bromeliad occurs in rainforests, mangroves, and tropical pine forests. Long narrow leaves form an open rosette around a central flowering stem. Green bracts, sometimes tinged pink or red, surround slender pale tubular flowers. The plant anchors to branches rather than rooting in soil. It generally flowers once before dying. Its seeds have feathery appendages that aid wind dispersal. Photographed in Florida.