Billbergia, a genus of plant species that is native to the tropical areas of America, where Brazil is the predominant place and among all the specimens that make up the genus are some whose color, shape and ornamental beauty are very attractive.
As we mentioned, it corresponds to a genus of plants that is within the family of the Bromeliads and within them there is a good number of plants, which reaches approximately fifty, which are mostly made up of epiphytic-type species, although some specimens that are soil plants are also usually found.
Features
Its leaves have a great intensity in green color similar to that of its stem and have great robustness and an elongated shape, which at the same time has small but powerful spines around it.
These they have a composition that gives rise to a cup in the center, which serves the plant as a source of water, since it collects all the rainwater. That is why, in areas where it is found in the wild, a large number of fauna specimens tend to come to use water.
Its flowers are very particular and can present a range of very varied colors and of great ornamental richness. Depending on the type of plant of this genus to which we are referring, this in your flowers will have a different composition of colors, but always very vivid.
The inflorescences are in the form of clusters, from which these flowers hang, giving them a particular color and shine.
Main species of Billbergia
We could mention all the species that exist of this genus, but it would be too boring, so we look for the main and most used:
Billbergia mutans
In Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, that is, In the eastern part of the Southern Cone, you will find this specimen in large numbers, which is evergreen and usually reaches a dimension that does not exceed 50 centimeters in height.
Its characteristics have a lot to do with all kinds of plants of this genus, showing half a meter long, showing thorns on its margins and its tips bent on the outside, which form the cup in the center.
Its flowers usually have a pink color and those that are inwards show an important variety of colors, between which the yellow and the reddish appear.
Billbergia pyramidalis
This is one of the smallest, since from its stem to the end they usually do not reach 40 centimeters in length. Its leaves are long and broad in appearance, made of sheet that can be up to two centimeters wide.
The flower is of extraordinary ornamental beauty, with bracts of a red similar to that of cherries, which will later allow new flowers that can be between purple and carmine. One of the most used ornamentally.
Billbergia Zebrina
This is the biggest, its flowers appear in clusters that can reach 90 centimeters high. These leaves can show an important red color and have white scales on which they show thorns. It has flowers between orange and green.
Billbergia saundersii
Another of those used in an ornamental way in the family of the Billbergia, is characterized by having leaves that They show tip and a color in green tones with a special shine.
These leaves also show some margins that appear in deep red color and some yellowish tones. Its flowers are spectacular and like the others, they appear in inflorescences of clusters. Among its colors you can distinguish a yellow at its base, purple in the center and lighter at the tips.
You have already met the whole family that exists of Billbergia. A gender that you must take into account to have some specimens in your garden for the color they bring to it.