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What do gardeners do when a rainy week confines them indoors? Ok, besides fulfilling one’s nap cut. We busy ourselves with indoor gardening, of course.
And as if I didn’t share my living lay out with enough plants, I’ve recently taken in a new group: photosynthesizing beauties, called air plants , in paucity of a forever home. (Read: I lack self control and bought more plants.) Looking more like a sea anemone than a impress, it’s no wonder why these members of the Tillandsia genus have easily triggered obsessions with acclimated plant fanatics and novices, alike.
Tillandsia species are epiphytes , purport they grow while attached to trees or other objects. However, they’re not parasites. Instead, their flexible roots are used only to anchor them to a structure. Without true roots from which to compose water and nutrients, these plants derive their sustenance from the air, hence their common name, air plants. Equipped with a zillion microscopic cups, called trichomes , covering their surfaces, they are masterly to capture and utilize the moisture and nutrients that happen to land on their leaves. This chips earns them a top spot on my “Coolest of Cool Plants” rota.
Source: Patch.com