What and why are "Bromeliad Bouquets"for your office reception?

Bromeliad Bouquets are a grouping of potted assorted bromeliads. Plantscape uses these economical long lasting flowering plants on many of your reception desks welcoming your clients in Boston, MA.

What are bromeliads?

1. Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) is a family of monocot flowering plants of around 3,170 species native mainly to the tropical Americas, with a few species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, Pitcairnia feliciana.

2. Pitcairnia feliciana is one of the basal families within the Poales and is unique because it is the only family within the order that has septal nectaries and inferior ovaries. These inferior ovaries characterize the Bromelioideae, a subfamily of the Bromeliaceae.

3. The family includes both epiphytes, such as Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides), and terrestrial species, such as the pineapple (Ananas comosus). Many bromeliads are able to store water in a "tank" formed by their tightly-overlapping leaf bases.

4. However, the family is diverse enough to include the tank bromeliads, grey-leaved epiphytic Tillandsia species that gather water only from leaf structures called trichomes, and a large number of desert-dwelling succulents.

5. The largest bromeliad is Puya raimondii, which reaches 3–4 m tall in vegetative growth with a flower spike 9–10 m tall, and the smallest is probably Spanish moss.

6. Bromeliads are one of the more recent plant groups to have emerged. The greatest number of primitive species reside in the Andean highlands of South America.

7. Humans have been using bromeliads for thousands of years. The Incas, Aztecs, Maya and others used them for food, protection, fiber and ceremony, just as they are still used today.

8. European interest began when Spanish conquistadors returned with pineapple, which became so popular as an exotic food that the image of the pineapple was adapted into European art and sculpture. In 1776, the species Guzmania lingulata was introduced to Europe, causing a sensation among gardeners unfamiliar to such a plant. In 1828, Aechmea fasciata was brought to Europe, followed by Vriesea splendens in 1840. These transplants were successful enough that they are still among the most widely grown bromeliad varieties.

9. In the 1800s, breeders in Belgium, France and the Netherlands started hybridizing plants for wholesale trade. Many exotic varieties were produced up until World War I, which halted breeding programs and led to the loss of some species. The plants experienced a resurgence of popularity after World War II. Since then, Dutch, Belgian and North American nurseries have largely expanded bromeliad production.

At Plantscape Designs Inc we currently use all color bromeliads in our weekly and monthly flowering programs in Boston, MA interiorscapes.