Epiphyte Epidemic

Ephiphyte Epidemic?!?!  Yep...Steve at Rainforest Gardener is spreading Epiphytic Fever to the point of an epidemic.  It's CONTAGEOUS!!!! 

Steve is such a lover of ephiphytes that he is hosting a meme focusing on anything that grows in the tree tops! Gotta love it!

I've always had a soft spot for such plants primarily because they scream TROPICAL to me.  Coming from the midwest, I never attempted orchids and kept only the hardiest of tropicals as houseplants.  My homes were usually too dry and too drafty for such delicate plants.  However, when I moved to South East Florida's coastal zones in 2005, I began to realize these previously considered sensitive beauties are actually remarkably hardy, given the proper environment...just like most of us!  My yard is now littered with air plants and scattered with the numerous orchids that I have "planted" in the trees.

These tillandsia grow naturally here in zone 10.  So cool!

This poor oak tree is so covered with tillandsia (ball moss, I believe...can cluster up to 50 plants!) that I wonder if they are actually suffocating the poor tree!

This is a close up of a single tillandsia that covers this lone tree. 

Here's another type.  I think it's tillandsia utriculata, but I've read that the utriculata is a protected species which would surprise me since I see it everywhere...gives me reason to believe I have misidentified it.

I showcased many tillandsia in a previous post of mine titled, "Tree Dwellers" - there's a nice photo of a Tillandsia Bulbosa that I planted high in a tree on my new property.

Bromelaids tend to grow up tree trunks as well.  I was permitted to take a clump of broms ( Neoregelia Spectabilis I THINK) from an estate sale recently...amazingly beautiful in the trees, don't you think?

Here's a photo of the new addition with some naturally occurring tillandsia that have made this sabal palm.

Staghorn ferns enjoy the trees too.  I'd never heard of this plant before moving to the tropics. 

The sterile leaves grow around a tree trunk / branch (or anything you might provide such as a log, rock, etc.) to stabilize itself and gather nutrients.

This fern is rooted to the trunk of this saw palmetto tree...

The fern base is fuzzy like a caterpillar...

This tillandsia resembles pine needles...

I'm hoping I will stumble upon more tillandsia, bromelaids and various epiphytes as I continue to clear my new property.  The discoveries thus far have been so much fun and encouraging for an epiphytic fan such as myself...and Steve!!  I can only hope I have more to share with you in the future!!  After all...it's very CONTAGEOUS!!!