Bromeliaceae

Bromeliaceae, members of which are called bromeliads (), is a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, Pitcairnia feliciana. It is the sister group to the Typhaceae, and together this clade is sister to the remaining lineages in the Poales. Bromeliaceae 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. The family includes both epiphytes, such as Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides), and terrestrial species, such as the pineapple (Ananas comosus). Many bromeliads, colloquially called "tank bromeliads", are able to store water in a structure (a "tank") formed by their tightly overlapping leaf bases. However, the family is diverse enough to include the tank bromeliads, grey-leaved epiphyte Tillandsia species that gather water only from leaf structures called trichomes, and many desert-dwelling succulents. The largest bromeliad is Puya raimondii, which reaches 3–4 metres (10–13 ft) tall in vegetative growth with a flower spike 9–10 metres (30–33 ft) tall, and the smallest are some Tillandsia species.