Encyclopedia > Bromeliaceae

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Bromeliaceae

Table of contents

Placement

Kingdom Plantae
Division Magnoliophyta -- angiosperms, flowering plants
Class Liliopsida -- monocotyledons
Order Bromeliales
Family Bromeliaceae

Synonyms and common names

Text

Bromeliads include epiphytes, such as Spanish moss, and ground plants, such as the pineapple. Many bromeliads have a "cup" formed by their tightly-overlapping leaves, in which they store water. However, the family is diverse enough to include the cup-type epiphytes, grey-leaved Tillandsias (which gather water only from leaf structures called trichomes[?]), and even a large number of desert-dwelling succulents[?].

The largest bromeliad is Puya raimondii[?] (growing way too tall for your backyard), and the smallest is probably Tillandsia usneoides, or 'Spanish moss'.

References

http://biodiversity.uno.edu/delta/angio/www/bromelia.htm
as of 2002-06-18
| Bromeliad Society International (http://www.bsi.org/)

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