Bromeliads include epiphytes, such as Spanish moss, and ground plants, such as the Pineapple. Many bromeliads have a "tank" formed by their tightly-overlapping leaves, in which they store water. However, the family is diverse enough to include the tank bromeliads, grey-leaved epiphyticTillandsia species which gather water only from leaf structures called trichomes, and even a large number of desert-dwelling succulents.
The largest bromeliad is Puya raimondii, which reaches 3 m tall in vegetative growth with a flower spike 9-10 m tall, and the smallest is probably Spanish moss, Tillandsia usneoides.
Bromeliads are in the pineapple family (Bromeliaceae), a family native to the American Tropics.
Bromeliads can be used in the landscape in frost-free areas of the state or grown in containers that can be moved indoors in areas where freezes occur.
Bromeliads grown in a potting mix or in the landscape should be watered when the soil surface feels dry.
Deep in the center of every tank bromeliad is the future plant: a rosette of tiny leaves which are smaller and smaller toward the center.
Growing Points II Each bromeliadroot tip is composed of dividing cells (meristem or growing point) protected by a root cap.As the new cells behind the tip become permanent root cells the tip moves forward.
Bromeliadroots live two to three years, and are replaced by new roots emerging sporadically higher up on the center stem.
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