Legend has it that Spanish moss got its name when the gray-bearded miser Gorez Goz purchased, for next to nothing, an Indian maiden who ran from the sight of him. He chased her up a tree but she escaped into the sea below. Goz's beard tangled him up in the tree and he died there. Living on warm air, Spanish moss serves no purpose to the oaks. Of course, when you're as beautiful as this rootless plant, that's all the purpose you need.
Nature is our best nurse.
Wait, there's more. Also in the oak grove that rims the historical park are poincianas, those flowering trees that look like red umbrellas when they're in bloom. And they are now. Like the great oak, the poinciana also has inspired writers. But oaks are the constant refrain at the park site.