Queen’s-tears: Introduction, Classification, Habitat, and Morphology

Queen’s-tears: Introduction, Classification, Habitat, and Morphology

Queen’s-tears: Introduction, Classification, Habitat, and Morphology

Introduction

The Bromeliaceae family includes the vascular plant species known as Billbergia spp. The Queens Tears plant, or Billbergia nutans H. Wendl. Ex Regel, is one of the most widely marketed species. The species of the Bromeliaceae family, also known as bromeliads, are sold as attractive plants and are frequently utilized in landscaping and interior design projects. Some species are in danger of going extinct as a result of increased unlawful harvest in their native growing habitats in recent years because of the growing demand for these ornamental species (Cooper and Cave, 2019; Rejane et al., 2012).

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae

Order: Poales

Family: Bromeliaceae

Genus: Billbergia

Species: B. nutans

Common name: Billbergia nutans, Queen’s-tears,

Habitat

Native to Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina.

Morphology

1. Billbergia nutans is a South American epiphytic bromeliad that is often referred to as “Queen’s Tears” or Leaning Billbergia.
2. This plant is herbaceous, perennial, and monocotyledonous.
3. This genus grows as an epiphyte in its natural habitat (Black & Dehgan, 1993), with a rosette growth habit, gorgeous leaves, and roots that serve both mechanical and absorptive purposes.
4. The plant can reach a height of 50 cm and a diameter of roughly 30 cm. Vervaeke et al. (2004) state that this species has a high level of cold resistance.
5. In the southern hemisphere, flowering takes place in July and August throughout the winter season.

6. The flower has arched petals that form clusters of pendulous pink blooms with tepals that are either pink or purple and many colourful bracts that cover the flower at first (Reitz, 1983).
7. They can be cultivated in regular soil or epiphytically, which means that the roots are not surrounded by dirt.
8. They include dangling pink, green, and blue tubular flowers with yellow anthers, as well as strappy leaves. Although they are produced intermittently throughout the year, warm weather is ideal for their flowering.
9. Periodically, pink, purple, yellow, or green flowers bloom, encircled by red or pink bracts.