tillandsia

[ ti-land-zee-uh ]

noun

any of numerous, chiefly epiphytic bromeliads of the genus Tillandsia, including Spanish moss and many species cultivated as ornamentals.

Origin of tillandsia

<New Latin (Linnaeus), after Elias Tillands, 17th-century Finno-Swedish botanist; see -ia

Words Nearby tillandsia

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use tillandsia in a sentence

The insects in the water which ought to nourish the Bromeliad (tillandsia) are really used by the Utricularia.
The Romance of Plant Life | G. F. Scott Elliot
tillandsia, ti-land′zi-a, n. a genus of mainly epiphytic plants of the pine-apple family (Bromeliace).
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) | Various
We spent half-an-hour in dragging the tillandsia from the trees, and collecting the soft leaves of the pawpaws.
The Quadroon | Mayne Reid
From some of these trees a peculiar tillandsia streams down, much like our Spanish moss,—but it is black!
Two Years in the French West Indies | Lafcadio Hearn
It is composed almost entirely of dead cane leaves, a little Spanish moss (tillandsia usneoides), and a few skeletonized leaves.
Life Histories of North American Wood Warblers Part One and Part Two | Arthur Bent

British Dictionary definitions for tillandsia

tillandsia

/ (tɪˈlændzɪə) /

noun

any bromeliaceous epiphytic plant of the genus Tillandsia, such as Spanish moss, of tropical and subtropical America

Origin of tillandsia

C18: New Latin, named after Elias Tillands (died 1693), Finno-Swedish botanist

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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