Last Bloom on the Spike

Here's the end of the Spike for "Choo-Choo Cha-Cha" the Tillandsia simulata growing on the back yard oak tree.

End of the Spike

The bloom seems to come straight out of the spike, I don't think there will be any more from this particular spike. I've waited several days now to post these pictures. We shall see.

Next Day

The next day, the bloom developed into a flower, as all the others have. Bud, then bloom.

Bud then bloom, then die.

It only takes a day. The next morning, the bloom started drooping.

By 4pm, this is what it looked like. I haven't seen any pollinators (hummingbirds or moths) but I think these flowers can and do self-pollinate. Now I begin monitoring for seedpods.

Final Countdown

Que Europe!

Sing along, I guess.


Here's what I've done recently:

• Communion Meditation, April 24, 2016 at Highlands Church of Christ
• Studied bromeliads in my backyard.
• Took the kids birding, Had a blast.
• Almost done with a semester of College. (It's finals week!)

Here's what's coming up:

• Starting a new job
• Continuing the series on Skeleton Sleeve Dipoles 
• More ham radio! 
• Planning more college classes

To borrow some lyrics, I'm "optimistically discontent" over what the next month will hold, if only we can all hang on that long.

Blooming Sequence Prediction UPDATE: Prediction Accurate!

So the third bloom on the T. simulata in my backyard has completely dried out, and there are no more blooms showing for now. I have a prediction to make, though. I believe I know where the next bloom will emerge from. Now that I've seen three, I believe that the next bloom will emerge from the bract opposite of and above the previous bloom. In other words, they bloom in a zig-zag pattern. I've been reading a lot of technical documents about plants, and T. simulata in particular, so I'm sure there's a technical name for this action, I haven't deciphered it yet. Below are some pictures of the area where I believe the next bloom will emerge, and some pups that the plant has. I'm keeping this short because I bet there's going to be a fourth bloom in the morning, and I want to spend more time talking about  that!

detail of the end of the spike

 Right in front of the 2nd blossom to bloom (blossom that's dead and hanging on the right side of the picture.)

Little Tiny thing in the middle is a pup

 Tiny Tiny pup in the middle.

Another detail shot

This picture gives the appearance that the bud may already be on its way! It seems to be open just ever so slightly on the right.

big pup

Big pup! Still has some growing to do.


******UPDATE******
So I saw the barest smidgen of the tip of a purple blossom on the bract I had predicted the next bloom would emerge from!

About 1mm of bloom showing!

Great Bloomin' Bromeliads!

This is "Choo-Choo Cha-Cha"

New bloom in the yard!
New bloom in the yard!
Tillandsia simulata has bloomed in my yard!
That makes a Tillandsia quartet of blooming airplants that I've seen in or from my yard! (The Neighbor's house had blooming T. setacea. Right now, all the T. setacea plants in my yard are too young to bloom.) Recently, I finally noticed a purple bloom sticking out of  "Choo-Choo Cha-Cha" the airplant Grace found in the backyard back in January, after our last trip to the Ichetucknee. I still haven't located the source of this particular plant, I'm thinking the live oak in the neighbor's yard. It's mature enough that it has a flower spike, and side growths. The plant is pictured on the right, shortly after I tied it to the tree with some nylon twine. I've seen pictures of this plant growing out of cypress tree trunks, and it seems to have attached itself to a hardwood twig. We'll see if it latches on to the live oak.
It's been just over one year since my first post about Tillandsia bromeliads. My affection for them continues to grow. They have such amazing depth of existence! Consider this: the T. simulata above is Florida's only endemic species of Tillandsia. It's only found here, in this state in the wild! It's considered common, but that could change. It's believed that the Mexican bromeliad weevil (Metamasius callizona) could use this as a host plant. This pest is responsible for making many once common species of bromeliads rare, and is considered a serious pest for the State's most rare native bromeliads. I've been keeping an eye on this plant, and so far, no issues with weevils! The only critter I've found living in it is a green spider who can barely be seen below.

Itsy bitsy spider crawled up the Tillandsia spike!

The Upshot

Sometime Later, in flower!

Try as I might, that was about the best picture I could get of the spider. I've seen it's web in the morning occasionally, so I know it's out there! Maybe it'll keep the weevils at bay. The biggest issue I have had with this plant so far is keeping it on the trunk. There are a couple of side shoots growing, I'm hoping that they will produce roots that will anchor the tree to the trunk of the Live Oak.

T. simulata is commonly known as "Broad needleleaf", "The Manatee airplant", or "Florida airplant". According to  the Atlas of Florida plants sponsored by USF, it has been vouchered in twenty-one counties in the state, all in a band across the middle of the peninsula. They bloom in the spring, and judging from the absence of a seed-spike, I'm guessing this is the first year for this particular plant to bloom. In the closeup picture of the flowerspike below, you see a new bloom emerging from the spike, and an old flower hanging off the side. According to the University of Florida's page on the species, it should produce 5-30 flowers. I'm still monitoring for further development.

Closeup

 In investigating the history of this plant, I discovered that it was at one point considered the same species as T. bartramii, but that it was reclassified as a separate species in 1982 by Sue Gardner. She now operates as an artist under the name of Cecelia Sue Sill in Texas. I haven't been able to locate the exact reason for the split, but I figure I can research it more later.

When the flowers bloom, they seem to emerge from the bract for a day, then they open up for a day, then they begin to wither after the second day. These three pictures were taken about a day apart. Notice how the old flower is still attached to the bract. I haven't attempted to see if I can remove it. As of April 16, there were no further emerged flowers.

Enjoy the pics! I'll monitor the spike for further flower development.

2nd Bloom

Two Blooms Done

Other Side notes: I didn't get any really good pictures of the first bloom, My phone camera isn't all that great. I need to get a new lens for the Canon, I've been thinking something along the lines of a Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 so that I can get nice, low light, high quality shots. Add a 25mm extension tube, and I would be set for 85% of the pictures I would want to take of  plants and people. If anyone has a good line on a good camera deal, let me know. I like Canon, and have a Rebel. I need a new/new-to-me lens.

UPDATE!!

I took the following pictures Sunday, April 17th. They show a THIRD BLOOM! Looking closely, you can tell that the bloom is old, close to withering. Since there was nothing on the spike before I left for school Friday, I believe that this must have emerged from the bract sometime Friday, and bloomed all day Saturday. Just goes to show you, check your plants every day, you never know what's going to happen!

Third Bloom!

Whole plant

References:
Info about Florida's Bromeliads:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/uw205

Info about the Mexican bromeliad weevil:
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/m_callizona.htm

Atlas of Florida Plants:
http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/Plant.aspx?id=1219

Back to Bromeliads, Making Sense of Knowing Your Place

Recently, I posted about three species of bromeliads:

all three Tillandsias covered by my blog are somewhere in this picture

They are all common in Florida, especially in the Lakeland area where I live. Bet you can find some in your neighborhood.
Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides)
Ball Moss (Tillandsia recurvata)
Southern Needle Leaf (Tillandsia setacea)

Struck by their beauty, and in awe of how they lived, I listened for a deeper message. Sometimes, when you read God's word, you don't remember what you've read, until God shows you something He needs you to see, and then you will remember what you have heard or read.
These plants are not like other plants. They have a different place, and different food. Some plants live on the ground, roots deep in the soil. They have a job to do there. These plants live in trees, and their job is to be in that tree. When an air plant hits the ground, it soon begins to die. They have to stay above. People are like that, especially redeemed people.

Colossians Chapter 3 starts off like this:

1If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

We're called to set our minds on things above. We can't be down below. Just like air plants, we have to be in a different state of existence than the people who still live without Christ. To continue to exist as terrestrial plants means death for our Tillandsia, and so to, we have died in Christ and must live as something else.


Doing this isn't easy. It requires constantly pruning off that which wants to keep us down:

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice,slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Notice that when we "put off" the old self, something new, by necessity, takes it place. Once we were rooted in the world, but when we take up the old, we must be anchored to something else. Let's remember that our anchor is to Jesus, and that we are 'being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator'.

Attack of the Bromeliads Part 3, Revenge of the Needle!

This beauty is what really got me thinking about bromeliads:

Tillandsia setacea: Southern Needleleaf

This is Tillandsia setacea: Southern Needleleaf, and it has some of the most striking flowers out of something related to Spanish Moss I've ever seen.

T. setacea, showing seeding flowers

And this isn't when it's even all that pretty!
When it's in full flower, the flower is purple, I'll keep an eye out, supposedly this is the time when they bloom. Unfortunately, they've never been reported north of Georgia, and according to the USF Plant Atlas of Vascular Plants, has only been "vouchered" in Florida in counties south of and including I-4. There have been collections made in a few counties around Tampa, north of I-4.

Crimsoned triad breaks

Sending seeds into the wind

Planting in the air

From the underside

Of the Live Oak branch it grows

Needing only air.

I haven't found any information about commercial uses of this plant, nor have I found any folk medicinal uses. Mostly, it is pretty to look at, and scrubs the humid air under live oaks. That's not a bad lot in life.

There are a lot more different types of Tillandsias and there's even more different genera. In all there are sixteen native to Florida species, and there's two hybrids that occur naturally. One of the biggest dangers that they face is from an imported insect, the Mexican Bromeliad Weevil, Metamasius callizona. First reported in FL in the mid 1990's, the weevil quickly discovered that Florida's bromeliads are tasty. Many of the plants they feast upon have become uncommon or endangered as a result of their depredation. Fortunately for T. usneoides, T. recurvata, and T. setacea the weevil does not for now, find them tasty. The link above that describes the weevil problem also details a program started in 2007 to control the weevil population using a parasitic fly.

I've written these three articles on these common plants because I learned something while looking at them. Next time I'll share some interesting realizations I had while seeking flowers along the branches of a live oak tree.

The Bromeliads are Upon Us! The Sequel.

Spanish Moss drapes and envelopes the trees. It's distinctly southern. However, many times, even in the same tree, there exists another bromeliad, Tillandsia recurvata known as Ball Moss, hiding among the limbs.

The plant is compact

Sending out tendrils and seeds

Sprouting from flower

Tillandsia recurvata

In the picture above, we see that Ball Moss is a compact plant, similar and color to Spanish Moss, and like Spanish Moss, is stringy. The plant itself, however, grows differently. Instead of resembling a chain from a barrel of monkeys, T. recurvata grows in a more "normal" plant like fashion. There is a central place where the plant attaches to a limb. You can also see how the seed stalk is long and curves out. This is a key indicator for know when you have Ball Moss and Spanish Moss growing together, if you are trying to judge from a distance. I gave a picture of a seedpod dispersing seeds from a T. usneoides in the last post. Notice in that picture, that the seedpod is very close to the plant.

Another note about the seedpod of this plant: The seeds often germinate right on the end of the stalk, so the plant looks like it's "walking" ie, sending out a tendril and cloning itself. Nope, it's sprouting from the seeds, straight out of the nest!

T. usneoides  and T. recurvata growing together

To the right, we see Spanish and Ball Moss growing together, and this is how I first discovered it, even though at the time, I didn't know what I was seeing. I made the error of thinking that the Ball Moss was a baby Spanish moss plant. Now I know better.

Top, bottom, left, right

Surrounded, the plant juts out

Sending seeds on stalk

There's a chance Ball Moss is good for something other than looking pretty too! A study in 2012 revealed that it could help in the fight against prostate cancer. Green Deane reports that it and Spanish Moss can be nibbled.

 On the left, I'm holding a Live oak leaf behind a seedpod so I could take a better picture of the wispy, feather like seeds.

And there's a seed head, fully visible. Now that I know what they look like, Tillandsia seeds are easy to find, I've found them on trees, my windshield, in bushes, and all sorts of places. One long range photography project I have is to track a seed as it grows.

The seed, over time
Becomes a whole new plant
Making seeds itself

Part three involves a new-to-me Tillandsia that has very showy flowers.

It's the Bromeliads! They're Everywhere! pt 1.

Hide your wife!
Hide your kids!
This post is about air plants!

I want to highlight three plant species, all members of the same genus, Tillandsia. You find them on live oaks and bald cypress especially, but they also reside on many other tree species. They don't (usually) hurt the trees (we'll talk about the worst case scenario), but instead they simply live on the bark of the trees they inhabit. These plants need a "perch" not dirt, and it just so happens that live oaks and cypress trees serve as the perfect perch because they excrete certain minerals the Tillandsias sp. need to survive.

All three species shown in this post are common species. You can find them all over Florida, and I found them all in the same live oak. We'll handle them in the order that I discovered them in my area. Each plant deserves its own post.

First up:
Tillandsia usneoides: Spanish Moss.

Tillandsia usneoides

This plant surprises most people by being a bromeliad. Pineapples (Ananas comosus) are bromeliads too! True story, Spanish Moss is a cousin of the Pineapple. It's also the most widespread Tillandsia in the USA. The latin name refers to the superficial appearance it has with a lichen genus, Usnea. to tell them apart, understand that Usnea lichens have a solid white inner core, if you try to pull a strand apart, the white core is visible. In Spanish Moss, the core is black. They are both stringy, but with Spanish Moss, I always think of monkeys in a barrel, the plant is a long chain. With Usnea, it's more like a tree trunk with branches sprouting out. There's always one main trunk. When you have both in the hand, the differences are very apparent. When you look at them across the street, they start to look similar. Lichens don't have flowers though, and bromeliads do. While the flower of T. usneoides is nothing particularly spectacular, it's one of those flowers that grows on you  and leaves you saying "so that's what that flower looks like!"

T. usneoides flower

T. usneoides flower

 A green glint on grey
Catching bright morning sunshine
Glowing small flower

Not big nor showy
They open along the chain
Hoping for pollen

T. usneoides seeds

Ripened flower's seeds
Cast forth on the wind seeking
A new place to grow






 Early in Florida's history, Spanish Moss found its way into the mattress of many pioneers. While people, for the most part, no longer use it as bedding, the Seminole bat (Lasiurus seminolus) among other bats uses it as a daytime roost. When I see Spanish Moss, I instinctively know I'm supposed to be there. It's a sign that the air is clean, free from pollution (especially the pollution that causes acid rain), and that the weather doesn't get too cold. The way it hangs on trees suggests a wise elder, and I've spent many moments pondering the wisdom the grey adorned wood has to offer.


 In doing research on the Tillandsias common to the neighborhood, I came across some useful links that I've posted at the bottom, I hope you enjoy learning about them as much as I did.
Also feel free to share a haiku about the Spanish Moss in your neck of the woods.



LINKS:
Florida's native bromeliads: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/uw205
How to know when you've got Usnea: http://www.eattheweeds.com/usnea-food-and-pharmacy-lichen/
A list of Tillandsias: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Tillandsia_species