Comments: This unusual small Tillandsia grows on a huge rock directly above a main highway near Petropolis. The rock face is full of these plants however they are too high to reach for the normal collector. To reach the plants professional contractors have to take extra special efforts. Some years ago a team with a helicopter had a severe accident. A windgust hurled the heli to the rockwall resulting in crash. A large number of these plants appeared on the German market some years ago coming via an orchid collector. An orchid company had hired an alpinist to collect these plants. However this rock is within a Nature Reservation in Brazil. Hopefully these plants will be preserved by the judicious use of reliable licensing. —SeeEhlers 1997
