Bromelia balansae

Garden Curator Brian Kemble will lead a Bromeliad tour at The Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek on Wednesday, August 20th at 9:30am. The bromeliad family (Bromeliaceae) consists solely of plants that are native to the New World. The most recognizable member is the pineapple, a rare example of a food crop from this family. Bromeliads are found from sea level all the way up to the high Andes and range in size from tiny rosettes to large-trunked specimens. The family contains an extraordinary array of different flower forms and colors, with bracts often adding to the colors of the petals. The bromeliads found in The Ruth Bancroft Garden are all dry-growing, terrestrial plants that come mostly from Mexico and South America. The main genera include Hechtia from Mexico; Bromelia from South America up through Mexico; and Puya, Dyckia, Aechmea, and Abromeitiella from South America. There are many well-known bromeliads that grow perched on the branches of trees or in wet jungle situations. One group in the family is the genus Tillandsia (also known as air plants). These include the Spanish moss of Southern gardens and a variety of silvery-leaved plants that grow on branches, telephone wires, etc. in tropical parts of the Americas.