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| Quick Sketch of 2 Tillandsia balbisianas |
A more descriptive common name, "Coke bottle airplant," refers to the way its leaves come together about half way up the plant, almost as if tied, and then spill over a more bulbous base. The leaves, which continue up the bloom spike for quite some distance before the flowering bracts form, curl and intertwine gracefully. Figuring out which leaf starts where isn't always easy. Aggravating as it can be, this plant makes me want to draw it again and again.
It is in the process of blooming now. The first sign of impending bloom is the appearance of a spike in shades of pinks and mauves, as opposed to the regular gray greens of the leaves.
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| Beginning Inflorescence - Watercolor and Pencil Sketch |
The inflorescence eventually will branch. While the leaves have a powdery, scurfy appearance, the stem and flowering bracts are smooth and shiny. The flower is purple, but the bracts, which become a deep rosy red at maturity, are the real show.
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| Intermediate Stage in Flowering Note the difference in texture between stem, flowering bracts, and leaves |
Tillandsia balbisiana also forms pups. Several colonies of this species are scattered through the scrub oaks of the Naples Preserve, and various trees along the boardwalks of Corkscrew Swamp and the former Briggs Nature Center. (The nature center now houses offices of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, but the boardwalk is still open). It is a rather small airplant, but considering the flowering spike, can get a good 28 centimeters tall.
The leaves of this plant vary from a sweet green to almost silver gray or even reddish, depending on how much sunlight it gets. In the United States it occurs in only in the southern and central Florida peninsula. It also grows in as the West Indies, Mexico, and Central and South America. It is neither rare nor common in Florida.
It once was considered neither rare nor common, but now is state-listed as "threatened" due to habitat loss and the damage from the accidentally imported Mexican bromeliad weevil, Metamasius callizona, which has devastated vast stands of Florida's native Tillandsias. So far, research in finding effective biological control has been inconclusive at best. The plant is sometimes available from select nurseries licensed by the state. The plants in our yard are descendants of rescues which I was allowed to keep.
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| Tillandsia balbisiana Watercolor by Jeanette Lee Atkinson, 2008 |
Non-writing or non-drawing people sometimes think that those of us who do just somehow "shake it out of our sleeves." In spite of the implication that we don't have to work very hard, that we somehow are more talented than they are, or know some secret that they don't, I think it's meant as a compliment. But it's much more a question of fanny-in-chair time rather than inspiration. And while said fanny is occupying said chair, other things are happening all around that don't get drawn or written about, because there just isn't time. And there's always the laundry.