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Spanish Moss
Tillandsia usneoides
28.9789, -81.3574
Field Notes
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."
Habitat:
Trees growing near and along the St. Johns River.
Notes:
Contrary to popular belief, Spanish moss causes little to no detrimental effect on a host tree. It may appear to have roots growing within the host tree, but it is an epiphyte. Epiphytes grow on other plants without taking any water or nutrients from them, and use the host plant for support and protection.
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