Catopsis nutans(Sw.) Griseb.

nodding strap airplant

WFO wfo-0000352930 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Catopsis nutans, photographed by Alexis López Hernández
fig. a Alexis López Hernández, CC BY 4.0 / 2020-04-15 / obs. 67687339
Catopsis nutans, photographed by Alexis López Hernández
fig. b Alexis López Hernández, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 62795412
Catopsis nutans, photographed by Alexis López Hernández
fig. c Alexis López Hernández, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 67264349
Catopsis nutans, photographed by Alexis López Hernández
fig. d Alexis López Hernández, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 67382939
Catopsis nutans, photographed by Neptalí Ramírez Marcial
fig. e Neptalí Ramírez Marcial, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 114320925
Catopsis nutans, photographed by ldgc
fig. f ldgc, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 26569215
Catopsis nutans, photographed by Alexis López Hernández
fig. g Alexis López Hernández, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 67381499
Catopsis nutans, photographed by Jake Rehage
fig. h Jake Rehage, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 161339502

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 19 botanical countries

Regions where Catopsis nutans is native: Florida, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panamá, Venezuela FloridaMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestBelizeColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorGuatemalaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáVenezuela
Native distribution of Catopsis nutans, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Belize BLZ SOUTHERN AMERICA
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
Guatemala GUA
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Venezuela VEN
Florida FLA NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 13 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Catopsis fulgens Griseb.
  • Catopsis nutans var. nutans
  • Catopsis nutans var. robustior L.B.Sm.
  • Catopsis nutans var. stenopetala (Baker) L.B.Sm.
  • Catopsis stenopetala Baker
  • Catopsis tenella Mez
  • Catopsis vitellina (Klotzsch) Baker
  • Pogospermum flavum Brongn.
  • Pogospermum nutans (Sw.) Brongn.
  • Tillandsia cornucopia Bertero ex André
  • Tillandsia nutans Sw.
  • Tillandsia vitellina Klotzsch
  • Tussacia vitellina (Klotzsch) Beer

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.