Tillandsia utriculata, commonly known as the spreading airplant, the giant airplant,[3] or wild pine is a species of bromeliad that is native to Florida and Georgia in the United States, the Caribbean, southern and eastern Mexico (Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Oaxaca, the Yucatán Peninsula), Central America, and Venezuela.[2][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

Tillandsia utriculata
T. utriculata tank
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Bromeliaceae
Genus: Tillandsia
Subgenus: Tillandsia subg. Tillandsia
Species:
T. utriculata
Binomial name
Tillandsia utriculata
Synonyms[2]
  • Platystachys utriculata (L.) Beer
  • Vriesea utriculata (L.) Regel
  • Tillandsia pringlei S.Watson
  • Tillandsia lingulata W.Bartram 1794, illegitimate homonym, not L. 1753
  • Tillandsia bartramii Nutt. 1822, illegitimate homonym, not Elliott 1817
  • Tillandsia nuttalliana Schult. & Schult.f.
  • Platystachys ehrenbergii K.Koch
  • Allardtia potockii Antoine
  • Tillandsia ramosa Bello
  • Platystachys ehrenbergiana K.Koch ex Hemsl.
  • Tillandsia ehrenbergiana Hemsl.
  • Tillandsia brevibracteata Baker
  • Tillandsia sintenisii Baker
  • Tillandsia ehrenbergii (K.Koch) Klotzsch ex Mez

Two varieties are recognized:[2]

  1. Tillandsia utriculata subsp. pringlei (S.Watson) C.S.Gardner – eastern Mexico
  2. Tillandsia utriculata subsp. utriculata – most of species range

Florida populations of Tillandsia utriculata are highly susceptible to attack by the invasive weevil Metamasius callizona, and have been devastated throughout their range.[12] Tillandsia utriculata holds more impounded water in its leaf axils, known as its tank, (up to a liter) than does any other Florida bromeliad. It is a major host of many species of aquatic invertebrates. With T. utriculata on a steady decline, a loss of habitat is occurring for many of these animal species.[13][14]

References

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  1. ^ Isley, Paul T. (1987). Tillandsia: The World's Most Unusual Air Plants. Botanical Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-9617675-0-1.
  2. ^ a b c Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  3. ^ NRCS. "Tillandsia utriculata". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  4. ^ "Tillandsia utriculata". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
  5. ^ Flora of North America, Tillandsia utriculata Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 286. 1753.
  6. ^ Biota of North America Program, 2013 county distribution map
  7. ^ Espejo-Serna, Adolfo; López-Ferrari, Ana Rosa; Ramírez-morillo, Ivón; Holst, Bruce K.; Luther, Harry E.; Till, Walter (1 June 2004). "Checklist of Mexican Bromeliaceae with Notes on Species Distribution and Levels of Endemism". Selbyana. 25 (1): 33–86. ISSN 2689-0682. JSTOR 41760147.
  8. ^ Holst, Bruce K. (1 February 1994). "Checklist of Venezuelan Bromeliaceae with Notes on Species Distribution by State and Levels of Endemism". Selbyana. 15 (1): 132–149. ISSN 2689-0682. JSTOR 41759858.
  9. ^ Luther, Harry E. (1995). "An Annotated Checklist of the Bromeliaceae of Costa Rica". Selbyana. 16 (2): 230–234. ISSN 0361-185X. JSTOR 41759911.
  10. ^ Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  11. ^ Carnevali, G., J. L. Tapia-Muñoz, R. Duno de Stefano & I. M. Ramírez Morillo. 2010. Flora Ilustrada de la Peninsula Yucatán: Listado Florístico 1–326.
  12. ^ Frank, J.H., Cave, R.D. (2005) Metamasius callizona is destroying Florida's native bromeliads [p. 91-101 IN:] Hoddle, M. S. (ed.) Second International Symposium on Biological Control of Arthropods, Davos, Switzerland, September 12–16, 2005. USDA Forest Service FHTET-2005-08. Vol. 1. http://fcbs.org/articles/M_Callizona_Frank_Cave.pdf
  13. ^ Frank, J. H., Fish, D. (2008) Potential biodiversity loss in Florida bromeliad phytotelmata due to Metamasius callizona (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae), an invasive species. Florida Entomologist 91: 1-8 https://journals.flvc.org/flaent/article/view/75750/73408
  14. ^ Cooper, T.M., Frank, J.H., Cave, R.D. (2014) Loss of phytotelmata due to an invasive bromeliad-eating weevil and its potential effects on faunal diversity and biogeochemical cycles. Acta Oecologica 54: 51-56.
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