Species · genus Tillandsia · Bromeliaceae
Air Plant
Tillandsia aeranthos (Loisel.) Desf.
Also known as: Carnation of the Air
Cultivars of T. aeranthos
The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.
No named cultivars catalogued under T. aeranthos yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.
Guide
The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.
An air-flowered epiphyte
Tillandsia aeranthos is an evergreen epiphyte in the bromeliad family, forming a low clump-forming rosette of greyish-green, narrowly triangular leaves. In summer it sends up flower spikes where small dark blue blooms emerge from pink bracts, which is where its common name, the air-flowered air plant, comes from.
Source: RHS
Native to South America
This species comes from South America, where as an epiphyte it lives attached to other plants rather than rooted in soil.
Source: RHS
Bright, humid, hands-off soil
Grow it under glass in bright but diffused light with good ventilation, ideally at a west or east-facing window with some shelter, and it can move outdoors in summer to catch rain and extra humidity. It needs no compost at all, since it is simply glued or wired to a support. From spring through autumn, immerse it in rainwater twice a week, more often in hot, dry spells, then let it drain well and dry off before its next soak.
Source: RHS
Offsets or seed
Propagate by seed, or by separating offsets once they have reached at least a third the size of the parent plant.
Source: RHS
Aphids and mealybugs
This tillandsia may be troubled by aphids and mealybugs, though it is otherwise generally free of disease.
Source: RHS
Removing spent rosettes
The main upkeep is simply removing individual rosettes once they have died back after flowering, allowing the clump to carry on.
Source: RHS
Care recipe
The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.
Care notes are early — not yet verified
- Light
- ai:claude-opus-4-8
- Water
- ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 5-10d)
- Humidity
- ai:claude-opus-4-8
- Soil
- ai:claude-fable-5
- Care
- ai:claude-fable-5
Bright, indirect
≈ every 10 days
Medium
10–30 °C
None — mounted or displayed bare as an air plant
Separation of offset pups from the mother plant
Dilute bromeliad or air-plant feed misted monthly
Slow
Blooms pink bracts with blue flowers when mature
Not yet documented
This is where toxicity lives — every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.
Reference images
Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.
PrimarySources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 5-10d) · ai:claude-fable-5
Kept true by its growers
Every fact here carries its source. Grow Air Plant yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — and a clear photo of your plant are exactly what keep this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.
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