URBANA – Unusual-looking plants are showing up in some very unusual places, said a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator.
“These plants look like tufts of grass, and they are often seen inside of glass globes suspended from little stands on the tops of tables and desks; attached to pieces of bark, cork or wood; suspended from ceilings on fishing line; or laid on a bed of rocks in a shallow dish,” said Greg Stack of U of I Extension.
“These plants are catching the eye of many indoor gardeners because they appear to offer a lot of interesting color and texture while seeming to require very minimal care. It’s almost as if they survive on the air itself because you never see them in a pot of soil. And that is exactly why they are often referred to as air plants,” he said.
Air plants, whose formal name is Tillandsia, are members of the bromeliad family and comprise over 500 different species that actually make very attractive houseplants. Most tillandsia use their root systems to attach themselves to trees and rocks and absorb needed moisture and nutrients through their leaves. This makes them epiphytes, plants that use something else for support while not really harming what it is they are attached to, Stack explained. Absorption occurs through small scales on their leaves, and these scales give the plants their unique silver or gray appearance.
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