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Tillandsia recurvata; photograph (c) Arturo Crespo Moctezuma, some rights reserved (CC BY) CC BY(c) Arturo Crespo Moctezuma, some rights reserved (CC BY) · observed growing wild · 2026-09-19

Tillandsia recurvata (L.) L.

Ballmoss; Old Man's Beard; Small ballmoss; Thread-leaved wild pine

Bromeliaceae · Arizona, New Mexico +42 · listed by its genus as an epiphyte

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Tillandsia recurvata, photograph (c) Diego López, some rights reserved (CC BY)Tillandsia recurvata, photograph (c) Sam Kieschnick, some rights reserved (CC BY)Tillandsia recurvata, photograph (c) Arturo Crespo Moctezuma, some rights reserved (CC BY)Tillandsia recurvata, photograph (c) Oscar Alejandro Morales Juárez, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)Tillandsia recurvata, photograph (c) Erick Vélez Sánchez, some rights reserved (CC BY)Tillandsia recurvata, photograph (c) Oscar Alejandro Morales Juárez, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) 54 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
2.0°C
Record low -4.9 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
30°C
Jun, Jul and Aug at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,128mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
22–40DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet summers: the rain comes March and May to October, read as a summer growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Tillandsia recurvata, commonly known as small ballmoss or ball moss, is a flowering plant (not a true moss) in the family Bromeliaceae that grows upon larger host plants. It grows well in areas with low light, little airflow, and high humidity, which is commonly provided by southern shade trees, often the southern live oak (Quercus virginiana). It is not a parasite like mistletoe, but an epiphyte like its relative Spanish moss.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Tillandsia recurvata", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Tillandsia

Tillandsia is a genus of around 650 species of evergreen, perennial flowering plants in the family Bromeliaceae, native to the forests, mountains and deserts of the Neotropics, from northern Mexico and the southeastern United States to Mesoamerica and the Caribbean to central Argentina. Their leaves, more or less silvery in color, are covered with specialized cells (trichomes) capable of rapidly absorbing water that gathers on them.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Tillandsia", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Grouped as an epiphyte, listed under the genus Tillandsia in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “epiphyte”.

Seasons

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (769 mm of 1,070 mm) falls in March and May to October, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 24.2 °C against a yearly mean of 21.3 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: November to April and September.

Rain

1,070 mm in the median year at the habitat, 769 mm of it March and May to October. Wettest month June at 132 mm, driest month January at 54 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 617 mm to 1,999 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,128 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 1,070 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 22 to 40 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 17, the highest 90th-percentile month 47).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 2.0 °C, the absolute minimum -4.9 °C, 74 frost nights in 44 years, 1.7 a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 33.0 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 10.7 °C in January (across the grid cells of the range 5.6 °C to 20.0 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 30.1 °C in July and August (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 2.0 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 58 to 62% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected -30 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Group. Listed under the genus Tillandsia in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “epiphyte”. A group is taken only where Kew's description of the species agrees with the table's listing. The table gives no figure and no prose; the cold floor is the habitat's alone.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Tillandsia recurvata through the yearWarmest months June, July and August, mean daily high 30 °C; coldest month January, mean nightly low 10.7 °C; 1,070 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.-10°0°10°20°30°40°frost33.0° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-4.9° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200250mm rainDLI 22–40RH 58–62%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 509 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C21 / 16–2722 / 18–2824 / 22–2826 / 23–2929 / 22–3130 / 21–3230 / 20–3430 / 21–3429 / 20–3127 / 20–2823 / 20–2721 / 17–27
Night °C11 / 6–2012 / 7–2013 / 8–2016 / 10–2119 / 11–2322 / 11–2523 / 11–2523 / 11–2621 / 11–2517 / 11–2314 / 8–2112 / 6–20
Rain mm54 / 12–10861 / 10–11474 / 9–14063 / 19–20790 / 37–223132 / 62–241124 / 52–233120 / 49–237126 / 73–243103 / 47–22363 / 12–18860 / 7–125
DLI24 / 19–3429 / 23–3833 / 29–4439 / 32–4740 / 30–4539 / 28–4240 / 30–4338 / 33–4133 / 30–3829 / 26–3525 / 20–3422 / 17–33
RH %58 / 52–6458 / 51–6458 / 48–6558 / 49–6660 / 52–6662 / 58–6662 / 57–6662 / 56–6662 / 57–6760 / 57–6659 / 55–6658 / 53–65
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 509 grid cells on land that hold in-range records (782 records in those cells; 6 more cells hold records but no land by the elevation layer, so those records sit at sea and the cells are left out), with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 2301:2597 (-25.075, -50.125). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -4.9 °C, 1st-percentile night 2.0 °C, 99th-percentile day 33.0 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 509 distinct grid cells holding 782 of the 790 in-range records (6 further cells with records at sea, by the elevation layer, left out); extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2301:2597 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -25.00_-50.000, lapse-corrected -30 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 896 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeArizona, New Mexico, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Aruba, Bahamas, Cayman Is., Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Is. AB Ant, Netherlands Antilles, Puerto Rico, Turks-Caicos Is., Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is., Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil West-Central, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil North, Brazil South, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Chile North, Paraguay, Uruguay · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker29.611, -98.242 · in the densest population, 288 records (32% of those in range)
Kew's description“epiphyte” · “seasonally dry tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 890 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 782 of them in the land cells it reads, of 790 placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 227 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 51 km away. 4 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 100 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 890 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Tillandsia recurvata, photograph 1did not loadTillandsia recurvata, photograph 2did not loadTillandsia recurvata, photograph 3did not loadTillandsia recurvata, photograph 4did not loadTillandsia recurvata, photograph 5did not loadTillandsia recurvata, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Diego López, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Sam Kieschnick, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Arturo Crespo Moctezuma, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Oscar Alejandro Morales Juárez, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (2); (c) Erick Vélez Sánchez, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Sida spinosa Sida spinosa Prickly mallow Photo: CC0, author not statedCantinoa mutabilis Cantinoa mutabilis Tropical Bushmint Photo: CC BY, i like lizardsPonthieva racemosa Ponthieva racemosa Hairy shadow witch Photo: CC BY-SA, Brian FinzelPortulaca pilosa Portulaca pilosa Kiss-me-quick Photo: CC BY, Michelle W. （鍾偉瑋）Crotalaria rotundifolia Crotalaria rotundifolia Rabbitbells Photo: CC0, author not statedTillandsia usneoides Tillandsia usneoides Spanish moss Photo: CC BY, Sandra Keller

Other Tillandsia 199 in the reference

Tillandsia abdita Bromeliaceae Tillandsia achyrostachys Tillandsia achyrostachys Bromeliaceae Photo: CC BY, Arturo Castro CastroTillandsia aeranthos Tillandsia aeranthos Bromeliaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedTillandsia aizoides Tillandsia aizoides Bromeliaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedTillandsia albertiana Tillandsia albertiana Bromeliaceae Photo: Public domain, Dave PapeTillandsia albida Tillandsia albida Bromeliaceae Photo: CC BY, José Belem Hernández DíazTillandsia andicola Tillandsia andicola Bromeliaceae Photo: CC BY, Benjamin BenderTillandsia andreana Tillandsia andreana Bromeliaceae Photo: CC BY, Laurimar SepulvedaTillandsia araujei Tillandsia araujei Bromeliaceae Photo: CC BY, fmunozTillandsia arequitae Tillandsia arequitae Bromeliaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedTillandsia argentea Tillandsia argentea Bromeliaceae Photo: CC BY, J. L. Gómez-HechavarríaTillandsia argentina Tillandsia argentina Bromeliaceae Photo: CC0, author not stated all 200 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Diaphoranthema recurvata; Diaphoranthema uniflora; Phytarhiza ciliata; Phytarrhiza ciliata; Renealmia recurvata and 17 more. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Bromeliaceae
Described by
(L.) L.
Native to
Arizona, New Mexico, Texas +41
Wild records
890 in range · 227 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 78 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (31 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 25 at a herbarium, 22 at a zoo; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -25.00_-50.000, lapse-corrected -30 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 83 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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