Tillandsia

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Tillandsia \Til*land"si*a\, n. [NL., after Prof. Tillands, of
     Abo, in Finland.] (Bot.)
     An immense genus of epiphytic bromeliaceous plants confined
     to tropical and subtropical America. They usually bear a
     rosette of narrow overlapping basal leaves, which often hold
     a considerable quantity of water. The spicate or paniculate


     flowers have free perianth segments, and are often subtended
     by colored bracts. Also, a plant of this genus.
  
     Note: {Tillandsia usneoides}, called {Spanish moss}, {long
           moss}, {black moss}, and {Florida moss}, has a very
           slender pendulous branching stem, and forms great
           hanging tufts on the branches of trees in the
           Southeastern United States and south to Argentina. It
           is often used for stuffing mattresses
           [1913 Webster + Webster 1913 Suppl.]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Tillandsia
       n : large genus of epiphytic or terrestrial sparse-rooting
           tropical plants usually forming dense clumps or pendant
           masses [syn: {genus Tillandsia}]