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A Floridata Plant Profile
#571 Tillandsia usneoides
Floridata ID#: 571 Tillandsia usneoidesCommon Name(s): Spanish moss, Dendropogon
usneoides (syn.)Botanical Family: Bromeliaceae, the bromeliad or pineapple
Family Plant Type and Feature Tags:


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Gray Spanish moss drapes the branches of oak trees growing way down upon the
Suwanee River. Far, far away in Fanning Springs, Florida. The seed pod of
Spanish moss opens in winter to release dozens of fluffy seeds that drift in the
breeze to new homes in trees.


DESCRIPTION

Spanish moss is gray when dry and light green when wet, and it hangs from tree
branches in wind blown festoons that may reach 20 ft (6 m) or more in length.
The stems and leaves are slender and curly, and covered with tiny silvery-gray
scales that catch water and nutrients (in dust particles) from the air. Spanish
moss has no roots. The flowers are inconspicuous, pale green or blue, and
fragrant at night. Spanish moss is not related to mosses at all, but is in fact
closely related to the pineapple and other bromeliads or "air plants."


LOCATION

Spanish moss, Tillandsia usneoides, hangs from tree limbs, especially live oak
and cypress, (and sometimes even fences and telephone wires) throughout the
southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain from Virginia to Texas. It also occurs in the
West Indies and Central and South America as far south as Argentina.





CULTURE

Light: Full sunlight to partial shade. Moisture: Spanish moss has no roots and
gets all the water it needs from the rain. During dry periods, it becomes
dormant and waits it out, to resurrect itself when the rain returns. Hardiness:
USDA Zones 8 - 11. Propagation: Spanish moss produces tiny seeds that sail on
the wind and stick fast to tree branches. Birds and the wind carry fragments of
the plant to new locations, probably the commonest means of propagation.



USAGE

Spanish moss is not a parasite. That is, it does not take nutrients or water
from the host tree on which it lives. However, occasionally, Spanish moss can
become so thick that it shades the leaves of its host, or, when heavy with
rainwater, breaks a branch. Although a tree might be weakened, it would not
likely be killed by Spanish moss. However, it is considered a pest in pecan
orchards.

Spanish moss makes a great mulch if you're lucky enough to garden within its
range. It is often used in decorative floral arrangements and handicrafts. I
sent my mother in upstate New York some home grown kumquats packed in Spanish
moss and she was more excited about the packing material than my North Florida
citrus! Spanish moss is sometimes hung on fences or wires to create privacy
screens.

Spanish moss often grows in association with resurrection fern (Polypodium
polypodioides) seen here covering the branches of a live oak (Quercus
virginiana) in green. This is the "horsehair", actually processed Spanish moss,
that was used to stuff upholstered furniture and mattresses before the advent of
synthetic fibers.


FEATURES

The suffix, "-oides" on many scientific names means "similar to", and in this
case refers to the similar looking, but unrelated, lichen, Usnea, or old man's
beard, which also is an epiphyte on tree limbs.

For more than two centuries Spanish moss was harvested commercially, and tons of
it were shipped to Detroit for use in automobile seats and to other cities in
America and Europe for mattress and furniture stuffing. It was said to make the
coolest mattresses, an important consideration in the days before air
conditioning. Until the 1960's Spanish moss was still harvested by moss pickers
wielding long poles, cured in moss yards to remove the outer gray "bark", ginned
at commercial moss gins, and then baled for shipment. In 1939, more than 10,000
tons of Spanish moss was ginned in Florida and Louisiana.

In spring and summer look closely at Spanish moss on live oak or cypress limbs
and you may see what looks like a tennis ball woven into the hanging streamer.
Yellow-throated warblers and northern parulas weave their nests right in the
Spanish moss, sometimes no more than 6 ft (1.8 m) off the ground. Many other
kinds of birds use pieces of Spanish moss for nesting material. Several species
of bats roost in Spanish moss and there is one species of spider that occurs
nowhere but in Spanish moss.

Spanish moss is susceptible to air pollution and has disappeared from polluted
areas in some cities. It does not grow near chimneys or where smoke is frequent.
In the early 1970's Spanish moss declined dramatically in much of its range due
to a parasitic mold. Since then it has recovered.


WARNING

Don't use Spanish moss for bedding or packing without first treating it to kill
tiny pests (especially red bugs or chiggers) that may be lurking within.
Microwaving works well, as does heating or boiling in water. (Remove bats,
lizards and snakes before microwaving.)

Steve Christman 09/25/99; updated 11/20/99, 03/01/03, 10/26/03, 6/3/06, 7/29/16



PHOTOS

Spanish moss drapes the branches of a live oak tree
Spanish moss on oak trees
Spanish Moss Seeds Releasing From Pod
Spanish Moss Seeds Releasing From Pod
Spanish Moss Seeds Releasing From Pod



RELATED TILLANDSIA AND BROMELIACEAE FAMILY MEMBER SPECIES

821 Aechmea distichantha
Brazilian vaseplant, vase plant
1060 Ananas comosus
pineapple, commercial pineapple
1169 Billbergia nutans
queen's tears,friendship plant
887 Neoregelia cruenta
bloody bromeliad
574 Tillandsia recurvata
ball moss, bunch moss
571 Tillandsia usneoides
Spanish moss, Dendropogon usneoides (syn.)