The plant genus Tillandsia, a member of the Bromeliad family Bromeliaceae, is found in the deserts, forests and mountains of Central and South America, and Mexico and the southern United States in North America.
Tillandsia species are epiphytes, i.e. in nature they normally grow on other plants, without being parasitic, and they grow without soil, growing instead on trees, rocks and cliffs. Nutrients are gathered from the air (dust, decaying leaves and insect matter) through structures on the leaves called trichomes.
Reproduction is by offsets called "pups". A single plant could have a dozen pups which can be removed and grown alone or left to form a colony.
The genus Tillandsia was named by Carolus Linnaeus after the Finnish physician and botanist Dr. Elias Tillandz (originally Tillander) (1640-1693).
