What is Bromeliad?
{{Taxobox | name = Bromeliaceae | image = Pineapple1.JPG | image_width = 250px | image_caption = [[Pineapple]], one member of the Bromeliaceae family | regnum = [[Plant]]ae | divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]] | classis = [[Liliopsida]] | ordo = [[Poales]] | familia = '''Bromeliaceae''' | familia_authority = [[Antoine Laurent de Jussieu|Juss.]] | subdivision_ranks = Subfamiles | subdivision = * [[Bromelioideae]] * [[Pitcairnioideae]] * [[Tillandsioideae]]}} [[File:Leucomelas-brome.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Tree frog]] ''[[Dendrobates]]'' sitting in a bromeliad leaf]] '''Bromeliads''' are a family of tropical plants which includes the [[pineapple]] and several colourful [[houseplant]]s. They are nearly all from [[Latin America]] and the [[Caribbean]] islands, except for Spanish moss from the southern [[United States]], and a single kind from [[Africa]]. ==Well-known kinds of bromeliad== '''Pineapples''' (Latin name: ''Ananas''). See [[Pineapple]]. '''Air plants''' (Latin name: ''Tillandsia'') are very curious because they do not need any roots to stay alive. Instead they soak up moisture from the air around them through tiny, silvery scales on their leaves. They have so many of these scales that the whole plant can look grey. In the wild they grow on tree banches in rainy and misty areas. In the Caribbean there is a kind that grows on telephone wires! '''Urn plants''' (Latin name: ''Aechmea'') are easy to keep. They grow to about 60 cm across, but because the stiff, green-and-grey leaves have spiny edges, they need to be out of the way. Urn plants got their name because they have a hole in the middle made by the ring-shaped arrangement of their leaves. This central urn fills up with rainwater in the wild and is often home to insects and frogs. Its flowers are held high on a single stem, and protected by a globe of small, pink leaves which lasts for several months. '''Vriesias''' (Latin names: ''Vriesia'' and ''Guzmania'') are like urn plants, but they have no spines and their leaves are softer. They