Not the greatest picture unfortunately

Likely to be a Tillandsia. Of which there are many kinds.

Are there teeth on those leaves? Where is it growing?

tj

It looks like SILVER EDGE MONDO GRASS

So many it might be. See if Tillandsia magnusiana fits.

tj

@tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱ it does have teeth and I believe it's out in full sunlight

Since it has teeth, look up Dyckia choristaminea and see if that's a match.

Suzanne,

Where are you located? It looks like a fallen tillandsia (which usually grow on trees). Did you plant this or it just appeared in its current location? If it is a tillandsia, it won't be growing in the ground (usually has no roots to speak of).

I picked one up in Florida (Orlando area) years ago that had fallen from a tree at the hotel I was staying at. I suppose the ground gets littered with them after a storm.

Some I purchased later that year at an arts and crafts show. Common name is "air plants" and that becomes obvious when you see them growing without soil (which will kill them eventually)

This is what they do in the tropics (mid-Feb, 2006 in Belize)

Same trip - this is at Tikal, Guatemala. The tree with the red fuzz is full of Tillandsia

@hc mcdole I'm located in Buckinghamshire. Unfortunately I don't have too many details as it belongs in a friends garden but she doesn't seem to know much about it, she originally thought it might be some kind of aloe. I see a few people suggesting it might be a tillandsia of some kind but from what I can see online tillandsia don't usually have teeth?

I'll probably update this post once she passes a pup on to me so I can get some clearer closer images.

Everyone's been really helpful so far, so thank you all!

I think a terrestrial bromeliad (eg Dyckia, Puya) is more likely than Tillandsia based on the teeth and how it's growing. Puya mirabilis would be another one with that grassy look.

Close up pics and checking for roots will help. I don't know if Puya or Dyckia (or Tillandsia for that matter) are hardy in Buckinghamshire. I cannot see any teeth on the plant either - maybe my screen is too small. I doubled the size of the image (200%) and still cannot see any indication of teeth.

I thought I saw teeth, knowing it does has me thinking Puya laxa. It is hardy down to -10C (15F).

tj

I can see teeth as well, but I can only enlarge the photo enough to see them on my phone. I'm not familiar with minimum winter temps in Buckinghamshire, but Puya dyckioides is another relatively cold hardy species (10F). And I have a Puya sp that I saw happily growing outside in a garden in NC zone 7b (5F). This one doesn't look fuzzy enough to me to be P laxa, although I agree that closer in photos would help and there may be forms with less dense trichromes.

Knowing you are in Bucks makes a huge difference. If the plant has overwintered in your friend’s garden it is unlikely to be a Tillandsia.

It might be Fascicularia bicolor which can survive in sheltered gardens in the south.

Btw I see teeth.

Are there tillandsias in the trees above?

No chance. OP lives in Buckinghamshire, UK. There are few Bromeliads even marginally hardy outdoors here and none on trees. Possibly a house plant put outside by someone who didn't know this, or who likes a challenge.

I have Billbergia nutans in a pot which survives outdoors but it winters under a bush in a town garden. And it doesn't have thin silver leaves.