air plant

plural air plants

1. Any plant of the species Kalanchoe pinnata (cathedral bells, life plant, miracle leaf, Goethe plant, mother of thousands, never dead, parvu, wonder-of-the-world (Trinidad)).
2. Synonym of epiphyte (a plant living on another plant nonparasitically).

   Those silent open mouths of tree roots and air plants made Mrs. Doll feel as if they were sucking her into them against her will.

   1930, Anne Parrish, chapter VII, in Floating Island, Harper & Row, pages 31-32

   2 more examples

   [My] air plants are happy and have grown three times their size because I supplement them with adequate shots of water from a plant mister. / WATER. There are several tricks to watering air plants. Tillandsia do need water; they do not live[…]

   2019 March 19, Maria Colletti, Living Decor: Plants, Potting and DIY Projects, Cool Springs Press, →ISBN, page 47

   Air plants are free and thrive in many environments because they are epiphytes, and make their home in soaring tree lines in the wild. They require little care because they pull moisture from the air for nourishment.

   2020 April 14, Tanya Lichtenstein, Cosmic Botany: A Guide to Crystal and Plant Soul Mates for Peace, Happiness, and Abundance, Penguin, →ISBN, page 7

   Synonyms: epiphyte

   1. especially, any member of any species of genus Tillandsia of bromeliads, an airplant.