Tillandsia imperialis É. Morren ex Roezl

Tillandsia imperialis E. Morren; Aiidr^, Bromel. Andr. 100, as synonym. 1889; Mez, in Engler, Pflanzenreich 4=2. 432. 1935.
Tiliandsia sirobilaniha Baker, Jour. Bot. 26: 168. 1888. Not T. strobilanlha Poir. 1817. Guzmania imperialis Roezl; Baker, Handb. Bromel. 180, as synonym. 1889.
Stemless, 4 dm. high; leaves densely rosulate, 35-45 cm. long; sheaths distinct, ovate, 15 cm. long, violet on the inside toward the apex, brown-punctulate-Iepidote ; blades ligulate, acuminate, 4-5 cm. wide, often recurving near the apex, green or tinged with purple, inconspicuously pimctulate-lepidote; scape erect, stout, much shorter than the leaves; scape-bracts densely imbricate, foliaceous with elongate blades, the upper ones often red, making a gradual transition into the primarj' bracts; inflorescence equaling or shorter than the leaves, compound with simple branches, substrobilate, 15-20 cm. long, 4-7 cm. in diameter; primary bracts erect, broadly ovate with elongate, narrowly triangular, red blades, much exceeding all the axillary spikes, subglabrous; spikes subsessile, elliptic, 3-flowered or 4-flowered, 6 cm. long, strongly complanate; floral bracts elliptic, acute, 35-40 mm. long, exceeding the sepals, carinate, subchartaceous, slightly nerx'ed, glabrous; flowers erect, short-pedicellate; sepals sublanceolale, obtuse, submembranaceous, slightly nerved, glabrous, equally subfree; petals linear, 6 cm. long, tubular-erect, violet; stamens and pistil exserted; capsule stout, subellipsoid, abruptly acute, 4 cm. long.
TyP8 locality: Mexico.
DisTRiBUTio.v: Vera Cruz, Puebla, and Oaxaca.

Tillandsia imperialis is an epiphytic species of flowering plant in the genus Tillandsia. This species is endemic to Mexico, specifically the states Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, and Veracruz, at elevations ranging from 800 to 2,600 meters. Its distribution is generally on the eastern portion of the eastern Sierra Madre Mountains and the eastern portion of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. This species is primarily epiphytic to the branches and holes of the tree species Pinus patula and Quercus laurina, or on lianas of the same trees, in moist cloud forests. This bromeliad prefers moist conditions and does not tolerate extended periods of drought or low humidity.

T. imperialis was first collected by Europeans in 1866 near Orizaba, Veracruz, and named by Edouard Morren in 1881. Its common name in Mexico is súchil (or xóchil), which is the Classical Nahuatl word for flower. In November and December people from rural areas of Mexico occasionally collect this plant to be used to decorate nativity scenes and religious arches (along with the related bromeliad T. usneoides).