About Tillandsia variabilis Schltdl.
Tillandsia variabilis Schltdl., commonly called the leatherleaf airplant, is a bromeliad species belonging to the genus Tillandsia. This species is native to Bolivia, Costa Rica, Mexico (including the states of Veracruz, Oaxaca, San Luis Potosí, Tabasco, Chiapas, Yucatán and Puebla), Venezuela, Colombia, the West Indies, and southern Florida. Tillandsia variabilis is an epiphyte that grows on the branches of various trees in moist forests. When measured including its inflorescence, the plant reaches up to 40 cm long. It grows as a single individual most often, but occasionally forms clumps. Its leaves are narrowly triangular, soft and brittle, and grow up to 30 cm long. The inflorescence is usually simple, and may sometimes have 2–3 branches, but is never palmately branched. The bracts are red, green or purple, less than 1 cm wide, and cover and obscure the plant's rachis. The flowers are lavender to blue, and grow up to 3 cm long.
