Bob Montanaro, Office Manager of the Pelican Island Audubon Society, spotted this green wild pine (Tillandsia utriculata) when we were taking a walk at the south Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area. To find a green wild pine in a south Florida slash pine tree (Pinus elliottii var. densa) is quite unusual.
Usually, they grow upon live oaks (Quercus virginiana) in the dappled shade of the canopy of these magnificent oaks, as shown below in a photograph shared by Karen Schuster (Class of 2008).
Clearly, this wild pine has flourished for it has flowered, and the “mother” plant has died back, as it always does upon flowering. Its long inflorescence has sent its seeds – with their silken parachutes – off with the winds.
Categories: Epiphyte, Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area, Uncategorized
Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area 