Having just finished shoveling and plowing snow, resulting
from the April 4th storm, Charlotte and I agreed that it would be
quite wonderful being back in southern Florida. We recently
returned from that tropical region which is surrounded by
picturesque, somewhat strange, loose pendulous tufts of Spanish
moss hanging in long graceful festoons.
Even though this amazing plant is native from the humid shores
of Virginia south to Argentina and Peru, we tend to immediately
associate it with Florida. We have never been to Louisiana but
understand that this member of the bromeliad family is even more
abundant there.
It’s quite natural that so many people automatically consider
the Spanish moss to be a member of the large group of mosses.
What a surprise it may be to learn that this plant of the hot
moist coastlines of southern U.S. is a close relative of the
pineapple. It is one of around 500 species that belong to the
genus Tillandsia (til-LAND-see-a). All are epiphytes
growing on the surface of trees, other plants and occasionally
wires only for mechanical support.
They do not draw nutrients from the host plant but absorb
water and food from the air directly through their stems and
leaves. Through the process of photosynthesis, the chlorophyll
in the epiphyte converts water and carbon dioxide into
carbohydrates. This helps to answer those who wonder if the
Spanish moss is living off and harming its host plants,
frequently a live oak tree or a bald cypress tree – the answer is
no.
Another plant native to most southern states, the mistletoe,
grows in clusters as a parasite on many trees and actually does
grow into the tree, thereby robbing it of food and water, doing
great damage to the host plant.
Native Americans called the plant "tree hair"
(Itla-okla) but it didn’t take early explorers long to coin their
own names including Spanish beard, French hair and graybeard.
Fortunately a milder version, Spanish moss, has survived through
the years.
The plant grows only on trees and other plants frequently
producing silver-gray thread-like masses as long as 25 feet. The
thin fibers are covered with gray scales which are a means of
receiving and holding atmospheric moisture, thereby helping the
plant to dispense with roots. Small axil flowers with petals
three-eighths of an inch long in changing colors of
yellowish-green to blue, produce tiny parachute-like seeds,
somewhat like dandelion seeds, enabling new growth to easily form
on other branches.<
When wet it has a greenish color, can absorb water up to 10
times its dry weight, and often will crack branches on which it
is growing, usually in a heavy rainfall. The great U.S.
botanist, Liberty Hyde Bailey wrote, "Spanish moss, in moist
regions…gives a most weird aspect to the forests."
Quite a few forms of wildlife make use of the long drooping
clusters of Spanish moss including rat snakes, three species of
bats, the prothonotary and parula warblers, and squirrels, owls,
egrets and mockingbirds who are known to line their nests with
the soft material. There is even one species of spider,
Pelegrina tillandsiae, that makes Spanish moss its sole
habitat.
The scientific name of Spanish moss is Tillandsia
usneoides. Its genus name, Tillandsia, honors a
Finnish botanist, Elias Tillands while its species name,
usneoides (us-nee-OH-i-dees) is named after a northern
species of graceful, pendulous lichen in the genus Usnea,
the "old man’s beard," which is extremely sensitive to
pollution and is becoming very rare throughout much of our
country. Interestingly the parula warbler of the North Country,
including a few areas in northeastern Door County, often nests
in the long drooping clusters of old man’s beard lichens whenever
they can locate some.
Years ago Spanish moss was used, mixed with mud, to caulk log
cabins. Dried moss was used for kindling fires, and it makes
excellent mulch for southern gardens. Commercial uses included
packing materials, saddle blankets, braids, filament for mending
fishing nests and especially as stuffing for furniture and
mattresses.
Several months were needed to cure the moss in a "moss
yard" where it was placed on strung wires to dry or buried
in the ground where the outer gray fibers would be loosened. Now
it was ready for commercial ginning whereby the outer fibers
would be removed resulting in the finished product that was quite
stiffly wiry and somewhat curly.
Because cooler air could freely permeate the wiry, springy
black filaments, "moss" mattresses were especially
prized during hot humid Lowcountry summers, and still are. Henry
Ford even stuffed the seats of his first model T’s with Spanish
moss – "tree-line upholstery."
Spanish moss is a perfectly wonderful traditional plant of the
South that this minute is helping turn my thoughts away from the
deep unwelcome layer of early April snow.
Spanish moss, actually a
bromelaid and close relative of the pineapple, is a
most recognizable and well-remembered highlight of a Florida visit.
This column appeared in the Door County Advocate
on 04/11/2003.
© Copyright 2003 Roy Lukes. All rights reserved.
