The trichomes occurring on Tillandsioideae may cover the plants so completely that they appear grey or white, like Spanish moss.

Plants in this group have smooth or entire leaf margins, unusual color and markings, with many producing fragrant flowers.

All their leaves are spineless (unarmed) and their fruit is a dry capsule containing winged seeds which are usually dispersed by breezes.

A major monograph published in 2016 used plastid and nuclear DNA as well as morphological characters to produce a new phylogeny and classification for the subfamily.

[4] Waltillia was not included in the 2016 study as a separate genus, but is accepted by both the Encyclopaedia of Bromeliads[1] and Plants of the World Online.

[5] The classification produced by the 2016 monograph uses four tribes, Catopsideae, Glomeropitcairnieae, Tillandsieae and Vrieseeae, the last of which is divided into two subtribes, Cipuropsidinae and Vrieseinae.