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"Bromeliad" redirects here. For the trilogy of children's books, see The Nome Trilogy.
Pineapple, a bromeliad
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Bromeliaceae

The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of 51 genera and around 3475 known species[2] native mainly to the tropical Americas, with a few species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, Pitcairnia feliciana.[3]







Root systems vary according to plant type. Terrestrial bromeliad species have complex root systems that gather water and nutrients, while epiphytic bromeliads only grow hard, wiry roots to attach themselves to trees and rocks.

An epiphytic bromeliad
Bromeliad at US Botanic Garden

Some bromeliads are faintly scented, while others are heavily perfumed. Blooms from the species Tillandsia cyanea have a fragrance resembling that of clove spice.


A wide variety of organisms takes advantage of the pools of water trapped by bromeliads. A study of 209 plants from the Ecuadorian lowlands identified 11,219 animals, representing more than 300 distinct species, many of which are found only on bromeliads. Examples include some species of ostracods, small salamanders about 2.5 cm (0.98 in) in length, and tree frogs. Jamaican bromeliads are home to Metopaulias depressus, a reddish-brown crab 2 cm (0.79 in) across, which has evolved social behavior to protect its young from predation by Diceratobasis macrogaster, a species of damselfly whose larvae live in bromeliads. Some bromeliads even form homes for other species of bromeliads.[6]


Bromeliads growing on telephone lines in Bolivia



Bromeliads often serve as phytotelmata, accumulating water between their leaves. The aquatic habitat created as a result is host to a diverse array of invertebrates, especially aquatic insect larvae.[8] These bromeliad invertebrates benefit their hosts by increasing nitrogen uptake into the plant.[9][10][11]


Bromeliads are among the more recent plant groups to have emerged. The greatest number of primitive species resides in the Andean highlands of South America, where they originated in the tepuis of the Guyana Shield.[12] The most basal genus, Brocchinia, is endemic to these tepuis, and is placed as the sister group to the remaining genera in the family.[13] The west African species Pitcairnia feliciana is the only bromeliad not endemic to the Americas, and is thought to have reached Africa via long-distance dispersal about 12 million years ago.[12]


Bromeliads are able to live in a vast array of environmental conditions due to their many adaptations. Trichomes, in the form of scales or hairs, allow bromeliads to capture water in cloud forests and help to reflect sunlight in desert environments.[14] Some bromeliads have also developed an adaptation known as the tank habit, which involves them forming a tightly bound structure with their leaves that helps to capture water and nutrients in the absence of a well-developed root system.[14] Bromeliads also use crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) photosynthesis to create sugars. This adaptation allows bromeliads in hot or dry climates to open their stomates at night rather than during the day, which reduces water loss.[15]


The family Bromeliaceae is currently placed in the order Poales.


The family Bromeliaceae is organized into eight subfamilies:[16]

Tillandsioideae (Bromeliaceae) or more specifically tillandsias, commonly called air plants. Air plants live on nothing but air and water. In the wild, they dangle off the branches of trees in the tropical rainforests of South America.
Tillandsias. Air plants need to be sprayed with rainwater or non-softened water everyday, if used as house plants.

Bromeliaceae were originally split into three subfamilies: Bromelioideae, Tillandsioideae, and Pitcairnioideae based on morphological characters.[17] However, molecular evidence has revealed that while Bromelioideae and Tillandsioideae are monophyletic, Pitcairnioideae is, in fact, paraphyletic[18] and should be split into six subfamilies: Brocchinioideae, Lindamanioideae, Hechtioideae, Navioideae, Pitcairnioideae, and Puyoideae.[19]


Lindmanioideae is the next most basal branch distinguished from the other subfamilies by convolute sepals and chloroplast DNA.[21]

Hechtioideae is also defined based on analyses of chloroplast DNA; similar morphological adaptations to arid environments also found in other groups are attributed to convergent evolution.[16]

Navioideae is split from Pitcairnioideae based on its cochlear sepals and chloroplast DNA.[22]




Cultivation and uses[edit]






See also[edit]


  5. ^ Sajo, M. G. "Floral anatomy of Bromeliaceae, with particular reference to the epigyny and septal nectaries in commelinid monocots." Plant Systematics and Evolution 247 (2004): 215-31.
  7. ^ Porembski, Stefan; Barthlott, Wilhelm (1999). "PITCAIRNIA FELICIANA: THE ONLY INDIGENOUS AFRICAN BROMELIAD". Harvard Papers in Botany. 4 (1): 175–184. 
  9. ^ Ngai, Jacqueline T.; Srivastava, Diane S. (2006-11-10). "Predators Accelerate Nutrient Cycling in a Bromeliad Ecosystem". Science. 314 (5801): 963–963. doi:10.1126/science.1132598. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 17095695. 
  12. ^ a b Givnish, Thomas J., Kendra C. Millam, Timothy M. Evans, Jocelyn C. Hall, J. C. Pires, Paul E. Berry, and Kenneth J. Sytsma. "Ancient vicariance or recent long-distance dispersal? Inferences about phylogeny and South American-African disjunctions in Raptaceae and Bromeliaceae based on ndhf sequence data." International Journal of Plant Science 165.4 (2004): 35-54.
  13. ^ Barfuss, Michael H., Rosabelle Samuel, Walter Till, and Todd F. Stuessy. "Phylogenetic relationships in subfamily Tillandsioideae (Bromeliaceae) based on DNA sequence data from seven plastid regions." American Journal of Botany 92.2 (2005): 337-51.
  14. ^ a b Schulte, Katharina, Michael H. Barfuss, and Georg Zizka. "Phylogeny of Bromelioideae (Bromeliaceae) inferred from nuclear plastid DNA loci reveals the evolution of the tank habit within the subfamily." Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 51 (2009): 327-39.
  15. ^ Rex, Martina, Kerstin Patzolt, Katharina Schulte, Georg Zizka, Roberto Vasquuez, Pierre L. Ibisch, and Kurt Weising. "AFLP analysis of genetic relationships in the genus Fosterella L.B. Smith (Pitcairnioideae, Bromeliaceae)." Genome 50 (2007): 90-105.
  16. ^ a b Givnish, Thomas (2007). "Phylogeny, adaptive radiation, and historical biogeography of Bromeliaceae inferred from ndhF sequence data". Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany. 

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