#571 Tillandsia usneoides Common Names: Spanish moss, Dendropogon usneoides (syn.) Family: Bromeliaceae (bromeliad or pineapple Family) Get link to this Profile or click for data record #571

Gray Spanish moss drapes the branches of oak trees growing way down upon the Suwannee River. Far, far away in Fanning Springs, Florida.

Location
Spanish moss 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.

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.

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 this live oak (Quercus virginiana) in green.

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.

This is the "horsehair", actually processed Spanish moss, that was used to stuff upolstered furniture and mattresses before the advent of synthetic polyester fibers.

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

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