Tillandsia paleacea is closely related to T. streptocarpa Baker as stated in Smith & Downs (1977) and in Rauh (1987) Those species can be separated mainly by a combination of characters:
T. paleacea:
long stems,
leaves shorter than the stem,
inflorescence mostly simple,
floral bracts mostly lepidote.
T. streptocarpa:
stems very short,
leaves longer than the stem,
inflorescence mostly digitately compound,
floral bracts mostly glabrous or subglabrous.
Simple inflorescences are not very rare in T. streptocarpa and the floral bracts can also be rather densely lepidote. Those facts stress the close affinity of both. The new subspecies resembles T. paleacea in its inflorescence morphology, in its vegetative morphology, however, it comes nearer to T. streptocarpa and seems to link both species. —SeeTill 1993ap. 7-10
