Tillandsia utriculata

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
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 L.[1]
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]