Sub-family 3 – The Pitcairnioidieae

It is suggested to read or refresh yourself with the article on The Bromeliad Family before reading this article. Although not imperative, a deeper understanding of the subject below will be gained by doing so. Click here for the article.

As discussed earlier in the article entitled “Subfamily 1 – The Tillandsioidieae”, the Bromeliad family consists of 3 sub-families – the first of which is the Tillandsioidiae sub-family. Scientists believe that plants belonging to this sub-family are among the most highly evolved plants on the planet due to their ability to directly source moisture and nutrient directly through their leaves and not just through their roots. An unusual and rare trait among plants!

As this sub-group of plants is regarded as ‘highly evolved’, it naturally leaves us looking upon the other 2 sub-families – The Bromelioidieae and The Pitcairnioidieae as ‘less evolved’ and therefore inferior – a kind of and ‘slow learner’ in the eyes of science. Ranked in that way, The Pitcairnioidieae – are commonly referred to as ‘The Ancestral Bromeliads’ because many of the species still resemble the simple grasses that they are believed to have evolved from. Because they lack the pizzazz of many of the more vividly colored bromeliads, the Pitcairns are often overlooked and only the more serious collectors ‘bother’ with the ‘prickly grass Bromeliads’.

Now, at this stage I must say that traditional science and my own view differ on the ‘evolutionary intelligence’ of the Pitcairn group. For I believe that they are highly evolved and supremely intelligent for one simple reason – why would a plant evolve if it was already in tune with it’s surrounding environment?

In nature, you don’t evolve or change your design unless you are out-of-sync with your environment, the climatic conditions or your surrounding habitat. Plant and animal species evolve because of shifts in their environment – because they were forced to adapt – not purely for the joy of it.

Evolution ( of design ) takes place because you need to alter your structure and change your behaviour to ‘keep pace with change’. And therefore, meet the challenges you are facing. In the wild, no adaptation = no survival. It’s that simple.

So, if The Tillandsioidieae group are ‘so smart’, why did they change? If you were perfectly in tune with your environment and in sync with what’s going on, why would you change? As the old saying goes, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!’

In the air plants defence, however, perhaps they changed for good reason. Maybe they were in tune with their environment and a new opportunity for survival arose. Maybe there was a change in the sea currents millennia ago after the ice age which brought a new sea breeze that they did not experience before. Maybe they changed so they could make use of the new source of moisture that came from the oceans each evening. Now that would be a smart thing to do given that many species of Tillandsia grow in arid, desert environments!

Who knows why the Tillandsia plant group ‘out paced’ the Pitcairn group. What we do know is that the ancestral Bromeliads, The Pitcairnioidieae, have changed very little from their simple-grass-cousins.

As collective group, these plants are comfortable with themselves, have found their place in life and are have settled into the lives they have. They are in sync with what is going on and their feet are planted firmly on the ground, ‘grounded’ in reality. As a flower essence remedy, these are the native qualities of each of the flowers from the Pitcairn sub-group before specifics are applied.

Q. Imagine that your thoughts were always grounded in reality, centered on what was actually going on and no longer subject to fantasy )? See the point?

In flower essence therapy, these ‘ancestral bromeliads’ deal with issues of MANIFESTATION – I.e. Issues with your life, your current situation, predicament, what’s currently happening, your experiences and other tangible realities. The other 2 sub-families deal with issues of MIND ( *sub-family 1, the Tillandsiodiae ) or issues of EMOTION ( *sub-family 2, the Bromeliodiae ).

The term ‘manifestation’ is a broad spectrum term that deals with physical manifestations – i.e. life experiences – that are the result of your thoughts, emotions, behaviours and the actions that create that circumstance.

More than this, the Pitcairns represent what you create in your life when you add up the sum total of your thoughts, feelings, behaviours and actions. What manifests in your life… what do you externalize ( i.e. express ) due to your internal realities – the resistance, fears, anxieties, worries, past trauma, perceptions, beliefs, avoidance, love, passion, joy? You get my jerky meaning!

As a counter measure for when ‘your life is out of shape’, the Pitcairns offer assistance with grounding in your true presence, shedding your illusions and anchoring a realistic, soulful life. They help you to concretize, solidify and manifest your true essence or ‘higher self’ in this world and step out of ungrounded and unrealistic ways.

The flowers help to unravel the layers of consciousness, build up of thoughts and accumulation of emotions that we often ‘collect’ and ‘hold’ inside – of which crystalizes and ‘happens’ – resulting in the life you now experience!

Much can be said about the Pitcairn group, but for now these ‘lesser evolved’ flowers help you to settle down, live your lives on the ground ( and not in our mind ) and experience the here and now.

• The Bromeliad Family ( Bromeliacieae )
• Sub-family 1 – The Tillandsioidieae. Click here.
  • Genus Tillandsia – The Air Plants. Click here.
    • Working with Genus Tillandsia. Click here.
• Sub-family 3 – The Pitcairnioidieae. Click here.
• Q. How Do I Apply the Botanical Archetypes? Click here.