There are several plants commonly referred to as mosses that are not actually moss. Reindeer moss (Cladonia rangiferina), also known as caribou moss, and so dubbed due to its integral role in the diets of grazing animals such as reindeer, caribou, moose and musk oxen, is actually a lichen belonging to the Cladoniaceae family. Related to neither mosses nor lichens, Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is another fraud. A flowering plant that grows hanging from tree branches in either full
sun or partial shade, Spanish moss is an angiosperm in the family Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads). Club mosses and Irish moss are two other fakers with misleading common names.