- epiphyte—not a parasite—that grows on branches of live oak, Texas ebony and large shrubs
- plants can be a foot in diameter
- leaves grasslike but stiff and silvery
- flowers short-lived, partly hidden under persistent bracts
- grows mostly in coastal counties, from Kleberg County south to Cameron County and into Tamaulipas
- most of the 500 species of Tillandsia are tropical or subtropical
