A Brief Overview on Bromeliad Plants

Bromeliad plants belong to the well-known plant family Bromeliaceae which is famous for having more than 3000 species divided in 56 generations. The most common bromeliad that you use in your daily routine is Pineapple. The whole family consists of different types of plants including Spanish Moss. ‘Aloes’ and ‘Yuccas’ are related to its other generation whereas some of its plants have green leaves like leafy grasses. Bromeliads are the plants with brilliant and long lasting blooms and are easy to grow. These are inexpensive and can be selected for your home decoration. You can either select a tiny miniature or a giant one for your outdoor. Not only it can be grown in warm temperature but is suitable for cooler climate as well.

Bromeliad History

Bromeliad was first introduced by Columbus when he returned to Spain in 1493 from his second voyage. In West Indies, he noticed some Carib Indians cultivating this plant. Soon within fifty years, the plant became well-known in the whole world and was being cultivated in India and other old countries. Bromeliads were added into modern cultivation after 1776 when a new specie of Bromeliad ‘Guzmania lingulata’ was introduced in Europe. Then two more species were introduced in 1828 and 1840 which are ‘Aechmea fasciata’ and ‘Vriesea splendens’ respectively.

Bromeliads have been using as ornamental plants from the last hundred years. It was used to plant only in European royal gardens and private greenhouses but nowadays it has been spread to the masses. Researchers are still discovering new species and developing even more stunning hybrids so that people of different nature can select one according to their own choice.

Uses of Bromeliads

Besides cultivating pineapple as a fruit from this family, several other species have been tried as a source of fiber. Caroa is one among them. Not only the fruit but the stem of pineapple is also used as a source of protein which contains bromelian as ‘protein-digesting enzyme’. This enzyme plays an important role in your body as a meat tenderizer. However, you should not use a gelatin mold for pineapple since bromelian tends to break down the ‘congealing proteins’ when contracts with gelatin material.

The Place of Growth

Basically, Bromeliads are Neotropical in nature. Thus, they grow in the ‘New World Tropics’ and ‘Subtropics’. The great number of species can be found from Brazil. However, South America is considered as its origin. Chile and Argentina are the cities where they are planted mostly while most of the species come from Virginia, Southeastern United States.