Spanish moss - wikipedia Spanish moss The lead section of this article may need to be rewritten. Please discuss this issue on the article 's talk page. Use the lead layout guide to ensure the section follows Wikipedia 's norms and to be inclusive of all essential details. ( January 2018 ) Spanish moss Scientific classification Kingdom : Plantae Clade : Angiosperms Clade : Monocots Clade : Commelinids Order : Poales Family : Bromeliaceae Genus : Tillandsia Subgenus : Tillandsia subg. Diaphoranthema Species : T. usneoides Binomial name Tillandsia usneoides ( L. ) L., 1762 Synonyms Renealmia usneoides L. Dendropogon usneoides ( L. ) Raf. Strepsia usneoides ( L. ) Nutt. ex Steud. Tillandsia trichoides Kunth Tillandsia filiformis Lodd. ex Schult. & Schult. f. Tillandsia crinita Willd. ex Beer Spanish moss ( Tillandsia usneoides ) is an epiphytic flowering plant that often grows upon larger trees in tropical and subtropical climates, native to much of Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Central America, South America, the southern United States, and the West Indies as well as being naturalized in Queensland ( Australia ) known as `` grandpas beard '' and in French Polynesia. In the United States from where it is most known, it is commonly found on the southern live oak ( Quercus virginiana ) and bald - cypress ( Taxodium distichum ) in the lowlands, swamps, and savannas of the southeastern United States from southeast Virginia south to Florida and west to Texas and southern Arkansas. This plant 's specific name usneoides means `` resembling Usnea '', and it indeed superficially resembles its namesake Usnea, also known as beard lichen, but in fact Spanish moss is neither a moss nor a lichen. Instead, it is a flowering plant ( angiosperm ) in the family Bromeliaceae ( the bromeliads ) which grows hanging from tree branches in full sun through partial shade. Formerly this plant has been placed in the genera Anoplophytum, Caraguata, and Renealmia. The northern limit of its natural range is Northampton County, Virginia, with unsubstantiated colonial - era reports in southern Maryland where no populations are now known to be extant. The primary range is in the southeastern United States ( including Puerto Rico ), through Argentina, growing where the climate is warm enough and has a relatively high average humidity. It has been introduced to similar locations around the world, including Hawaii and Australia. Contents 1 Description 2 Ecology 3 Culture and folklore 4 Human uses 5 Cultivars 6 Hybrids 7 References 8 External links Description The plant consists of one or more slender stems bearing alternate thin, curved or curly, heavily scaled leaves 2 -- 6 cm ( 0.8 -- 2.4 in ) long and 1 mm ( 0.04 in ) broad, that grow vegetatively in chain - like fashion ( pendant ), forming hanging structures up to 6 m ( 240 in ) in length. The plant has no aerial roots and its brown, green, or yellow flowers are tiny and inconspicuous. It propagates both by seed and vegetatively by fragments that blow on the wind and stick to tree limbs, or are carried by birds as nesting material. Ecology Close - up of Spanish moss Spanish - moss is an epiphyte which absorbs nutrients and water through its leaves from the air and rainfall. While it rarely kills the tree upon which it grows, it can occasionally become so thick that it shades the tree 's leaves and lowers its growth rate. In the southern U.S., the plant seems to show a preference for growth on southern live oak ( Quercus virginiana ) and bald cypress ( Taxodium distichum ) because of these trees ' high rates of foliar mineral leaching ( calcium, magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus ) providing an abundant supply of nutrients to the plant, but it can also colonize other tree species such as sweetgum ( Liquidambar styraciflua ), crepe - myrtles ( Lagerstroemia spp. ), other oaks, and even pines. Spanish - moss shelters a number of creatures, including rat snakes and three species of bats. One species of jumping spider, Pelegrina tillandsiae, has been found only on Spanish - moss. Chiggers, though widely assumed to infest Spanish - moss, were not present among thousands of other arthropods identified in one study. Culture and folklore Spanish - moss with open seed capsule in Santee National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina. Due to its propensity for growing in subtropical humid southern locales like Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, North Carolina, extreme southern Virginia, east and south Texas, and Alabama, the plant is often associated with Southern Gothic imagery and Deep South culture. One story of the origin on Spanish moss is called `` The Meanest Man Who Ever Lived ''. The man 's white hair grew very long and got caught on trees. Spanish moss was introduced to Hawaii in the 19th century, and became a popular ornamental and lei plant. On Hawai'i it is often called `` Pele 's hair '' after Pele the Hawaiian goddess. The term `` Pele 's hair '' is also used to refer to a type of filamentous volcanic glass. Human Uses Spanish - moss under 20x magnification, showing scale - like trichomes. Spanish - moss has been used for various purposes, including building insulation, mulch, packing material, mattress stuffing, and fiber. In the early 1900s it was used commercially in the padding of car seats. In 1939 over 10,000 tons of processed Spanish - moss was produced. It is still collected today in smaller quantities for use in arts and crafts, or for beddings for flower gardens, and as an ingredient in the traditional wall covering material bousillage. In some parts of Latin America and Louisiana Spanish moss is used in Nativity scenes. In the desert regions of the southwestern United States, dried Spanish - moss plants are used in the manufacture of evaporative coolers, colloquially known as swamp coolers ( and in some areas as `` desert coolers '' ). These are used to cool homes and offices much less expensively than using air conditioners. A pump squirts water onto a pad made of Spanish - moss plants. A fan then pulls air through the pad and into the building. Evaporation of the water on the pads serves to reduce the air temperature, thus cooling the building. Cultivars Tillandsia ' Maurice 's Robusta ' Tillandsia ' Munro 's Filiformis ' Tillandsia ' Odin 's Genuina ' Tillandsia ' Spanish Gold ' Tillandsia ' Tight and Curly ' Hybrids Tillandsia ' Nezley ' ( Tillandsia usneoides × mallemontii ) Tillandsia ' Kimberly ' ( Tillandsia usneoides × recurvata ) Tillandsia ' Old Man 's Gold ' ( Tillandsia crocata × usneoides ) References Jump up ^ `` Tillandsia usneoides ''. Germplasm Resources Information Network ( GRIN ). Agricultural Research Service ( ARS ), United States Department of Agriculture ( USDA ). Retrieved 2009 - 12 - 08. ^ Jump up to : Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Tillandsia usneoides Jump up ^ Luther, Harry E. ; Brown, Gregory K. `` Tillandsia usneoides ``. Flora of North America ( FNA ). Missouri Botanical Garden. 22 -- via eFloras.org. Jump up ^ `` Tillandsia usneoides ''. County - level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas ( NAPA ). Biota of North America Program ( BONAP ). 2013. Jump up ^ `` Tillandsia ''. Germplasm Resources Information Network ( GRIN ). Agricultural Research Service ( ARS ), United States Department of Agriculture ( USDA ). Jump up ^ Times - Dispatch, REX SPRINGSTON Richmond. `` Virginia scientists search for northernmost realm of Spanish moss ''. Richmond Times - Dispatch. Retrieved 2017 - 10 - 26. ^ Jump up to : `` Tillandsia usneoides ''. Floridata Plant Encyclopedia. Jump up ^ Schlesinger, William H. ; Marks, P.L. ( 1977 ). `` Mineral Cycling and the Niche of Spanish Moss, Tillandsia usneoides L ''. American Journal of Botany. 64 ( 10 ) : 1254 -- 1262. doi : 10.2307 / 2442489. JSTOR 2442489. Jump up ^ Wildlife, State of Texas, Parks and. `` Flora Fact :| Spanish Moss Serves as Nature 's Draperies ''. www.tpwmagazine.com. Retrieved 2017 - 10 - 26. Jump up ^ Whitaker Jr., J ; Ruckdeschel, C. ( 2010 ). `` Spanish Moss, the Unfinished Chigger Story ''. Southeastern Naturalist. 9 ( 1 ) : 85 -- 94. doi : 10.1656 / 058.009. 0107. Jump up ^ Friedman, Amy ; Johnson, Meredith ( May 28, 2017 ). `` The Meanest Man Who Ever Lived ( An American Folktale ) ''. Uexpress. Retrieved May 31, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Nā Lei o Hawai ` i - Types of Lei ''. Jump up ^ `` Hair From Trees... Spanish - moss is new upholstering material ''. Popular Science. June 1937. Jump up ^ Adams, Dennis. Spanish Moss : Its Nature, History and Uses. Beaufort County Library, SC. Jump up ^ Gutenberg, Arthur William ( 1955 ). The Economics of the Evaporative Cooler Industry in the Southwestern United States. Stanford University Graduate School of Business. p. 167. Jump up ^ Bromeliad Cultivar Registry : Tillandsia ' Maurice 's Robusta ' Jump up ^ Bromeliad Cultivar Registry : Tillandsia ' Munro 's Filiformis ' Jump up ^ Bromeliad Cultivar Registry : Tillandsia ' Odin 's Genuina ' Jump up ^ Bromeliad Cultivar Registry : Tillandsia ' Spanish Gold ' Jump up ^ Bromeliad Cultivar Registry : Tillandsia ' Tight and Curly ' Jump up ^ Bromeliad Cultivar Registry : Tillandsia ' Nezley ' Jump up ^ Bromeliad Cultivar Registry : Tillandsia ' Kimberly ' Jump up ^ Bromeliad Cultivar Registry : Tillandsia ' Old Man 's Gold ' Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The Plant Book. A Portable Dictionary of the Higher Plants. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ISBN 0 - 521 - 34060 - 8. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to : Tillandsia usneoides ( category ) Spanish Moss : Its History, Nature and Uses -- Beaufort County Library Florida Forest Plants Florida Spanish Moss : Theory - Does Spanish Moss kill trees ? Taxon identifiers Wd : Q311524 ARKive : tillandsia - usneoides EoL : 355461 FNA : 222000404 GBIF : 2695149 GRIN : 310398 iNaturalist : 49569 IPNI : 1169665 - 2 ITIS : 42371 NCBI : 49541 Plant List : kew - 269929 PLANTS : TIUS Tropicos : 4300586 WCSP : 269929 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spanish_moss&oldid=822868417 '' Categories : Tillandsia Plants described in 1762 Bromeliaceae species Epiphytes Flora of the Caribbean Flora of Central America Flora of Mexico Flora of South America Flora of the Southeastern United States Flora of the South - Central United States Flora of the Bahamas Flora of Bermuda Hidden categories : Wikipedia introduction cleanup from January 2018 All pages needing cleanup Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from January 2018 All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify Articles with ' species ' microformats Taxonbar templates without from parameter Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikimedia Commons Wikispecies Asturianu Català Cebuano Čeština Deutsch Español فارسی Français ქართული Kreyòl ayisyen Lietuvių Magyar Nāhuatl Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Runa Simi Русский Suomi Svenska ไทย Tiếng Việt Winaray 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 28 January 2018, at 23 : 51. 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Question: why does spanish moss grow on some trees and not others
Answer: these trees' high rates of foliar mineral leaching (calcium, magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus) providing an abundant supply of nutrients to the plant