Tillandsia usneoides
Description
Plant very slenderly long-caulescent, branching at each node, up to 8 m long, growing pendent from trees in branching strands, soon rootless. Leaves many, very laxly and distichously distributed along the coiled filiform stem, 2-6 cm long, shorter than to exceeding the internodes, densely lepidotewith spreading or subappressed scales, cinereous-green; sheaths distinct, contracted into the blade, lanceolate, closely involute around the stem, ca. 0.2 x 0.8 cm, blades arching or spreading, flexible, filiform, 1.5-5 cm long, less than 1 mm wide. Inflorescence reduced to a single flower or rarely two-flowered; scape practically none, with one or two imbricate foliaceous bracts with small blades; floral bract erect, membranaceous, with even or veined surface when dry, suborbicular, much shorter than the sepals, rounded and acuminate, ecarinate, glabrous at the base to densely lepidote in upper half. Flowers short-pedicellate, extremely fragant for its size; sepals membranaceous, with veined surface when dry, ovate-oblong, 6-7 mm long, acute, evenly short connate, ecarinate; petals ligulate, 9-11 mm long, the blade spreading or recurved, acutish or obtuse, bright-green; stamens deeply included, about twice as long as the pistil, filaments subslender, flat when dry, anthers basifixed, ca. 1 mm long, pollen orange; ovary subglobose, ca. 1 mm long, abruptly contracted into the short (1 mm) style, stigma lobed. Capsule slenderly cylindric, to 2.5 cm long, abruptly rounded and short-beaked.