T-shirt winner:  Connie Sithes, Raleigh, NC

Plant Group:
Bromeliads

Bromeliads are in the pineapple family (Bromeliaceae), a family native to the American Tropics. Two widely known members of this family are pineapple (Ananas comosus) and Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides).

Foliage: Variations in foliage are as wide as those in flowering

Flowers: leaves may be green, gray, maroon, spotted or striped. Leaves range from grass-like and less than 2 inches long in some tillandsias, to broad and several feet long in billbergias. The upper leaves of many species change color when plants are about to flower. The gray-green, grass-like foliage of Tillandsia ionantha turns pink, and deep purple-blue flowers arise among the pink leaves.

Features: The most distinctive feature of this plant group is the rosette of leaves that mold into a cup to hold the water that nourishes the plant.  In some varieties, flowers and large colorful bracts emerge from the center to create a spectacular display.  These bracts are modified leaves that grow from the same axils as the flowers.

Light: Bright light but no direct hot afternoon sun.

Uses: makes a great houseplant