I've been collecting Bromeliads here on Florida's Gulf Coast for 23
years.....

Bromeliads belong to the plant family Bromeliaceae, which has well over 2,700 species, plus thousands of hybrids. They grow from the southern parts of the US, down through Central and South America to Chile and Argentina.

Many bromeliads grow on trees as epiphytes (air plants). Their roots
are used mainly for support, they are not parasites. They are one of
the most adaptable plant families in the world and have a tremendous
ability to survive. Bromeliads offer infinite variety, challange,
plant forms and color combinations.

Florida has 16 species of native bromeliads, many of which are
restricted to the southern portions of our state. Florida is at risk
of losing some of its most unique plants forever, as an invasive,
exotic pest weevil Metamasuis callizona (Evil Weevil) is destroying
populations of 5 of these native bromeliad species at an alarming
rate.
The weevil entered Florida in a shipment of bromeliads from Mexico,
and by the time it was discovered in a nursery in 1989, it had become
established in Broward County.


It is now found in 16 counties in south Florida and is fast
approaching the state's most rare, endangered bromeliad populations in
the Everglades.

Want to know what the University of Florida, the Florida Council of
Bromeliad Societies, and the Florida Department of Agriculture is
doing to combat this pest:
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