Bromeliads Basics
This is the continent where most bromeliads are naturally found, including countries like Brazil and Ecuador.
What is South America?
This green pigment is essential for photosynthesis and gives plants their green color.
What is chlorophyll?
Bromeliads are known for blooming only once in their lifetime, a trait described by this botanical term.
What is monocarpic?
Most bromeliads prefer this type of lighting
What is bright, indirect light?
This genus includes the pineapple, the most economically important bromeliad.
What is Ananas?
The pineapple belongs to this plant family, making it the most commercially important bromeliad.
What is the Bromeliaceae family?
These tiny openings on the underside of leaves allow for gas exchange.
What are stomata?
These colorful, leaf-like structures often mistaken for petals help attract pollinators to bromeliad flowers.
What are bracts?
Instead of keeping the soil soggy, water should be poured into this part of many bromeliads.
What is the central cup or tank?
Known for its bright, often red or orange bracts, this genus is popular in indoor gardening and is named after a Spanish botanist.
What is Guzmania?
Bromeliads are well-known for absorbing water and nutrients through these structures instead of their roots.
What are their leaves?
This part of the plant anchors it in the soil and absorbs water and nutrients.
What are roots?
After blooming, a bromeliad produces these offsets that can grow into new plants.
What are pups?
To avoid root rot, bromeliads should be planted in containers with this crucial feature.
What are drainage holes?
This genus includes many species with spiky, stiff leaves and is famous for Aechmea fasciata, the “silver vase” bromeliad.
What is Aechmea?
This type of environment, meaning “on the air,” is where epiphytic bromeliads commonly grow.
What is an epiphytic environment?
(Acceptable: What is “epiphyte” or “What is an epiphyte?”)
In flowering plants, this structure develops into a fruit after fertilization.
What is the ovary?
Bromeliad flowers come in a range of colors, but this vivid hue—often seen in Guzmania and Aechmea—is one of the most common bloom shades.
What is red?
Over time, debris and stagnant water can build up in the cup; it’s important to do this regularly to keep the plant healthy.
What is flush or clean the cup?
This genus is distinguished by its long, thin, arching leaves and is named after a Dutch botanist, Willem Hendrik de Vriese.
What is Vriesea?
This genus, popular in homes and offices for its bright bracts, gets its name from a Latin word meaning “sword.”
What is Guzmania?
(Alternative acceptable answer depending on phrasing: What is Vriesea?, also derived from similar meanings — clarify genus if needed.)
This vascular tissue transports sugars produced by photosynthesis throughout the plant.
What is phloem?
This is the best way to encourage a bromeliad to bloom, often involving the use of ethylene gas from a common household fruit.
What is placing it near a ripe apple (or banana)?
When a bromeliad dies after blooming, this is the recommended action to take with its "pups."
What is separate and repot them?
These bromeliads, often called "air plants," belong mainly to this genus, which absorb water and nutrients through their leaves.
What is Tillandsia?