General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Plant Height: 10 - 20 feet
Plant Spread: 18 - 24 inches
Leaves: Evergreen
Other: Green with tiny whitish scales (trichomes)
Fruit: Other: 1/2 to 3/4 inch capsule containing 2 - 20 seeds.
Flowers: Inconspicuous
Fragrant
Flower Color: Green
Yellow
Other: greenish-yellow
Bloom Size: Under 1"
Flower Time: Spring
Summer
Late summer or early fall
Uses: Dried Flower
Will Naturalize
Resistances: Humidity tolerant
Drought tolerant
Propagation: Seeds: Other info: the seeds will self sow
Propagation: Other methods: Division
Offsets
Containers: Needs excellent drainage in pots
Miscellaneous: Epiphytic

Image
Common names
  • Spanish Moss
  • Air Plant
  • Con Rape Moss
  • Wool crape
  • Grandfather's Whiskers
  • Old Man's Beard
  • Florida Moss
  • Long moss
  • Graybeard
  • Bromeliad

Photo Gallery
Location: Lake Kissimmee State Park, FL zone 9b
Date: 2019-03-25
Barred Owl camouflaged by Spanish Moss in Oak tree.

Date: 2023-02-24
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2017-10-27

Date: 2020-08-23
Location: First Landing State Park
Date: March 6 2022
Location: Paraty-Mirim, Brazil
Date: 2010-02-20
Location: Tampa FL
Location: St. Augustine, FL.
Date: 2016-05-11
Location: Port Orange, Florida
Date: 2018-07-08
Location: Lake Jesup, Winter Springs, Florida, United States
Date: 2019-12-31
Growing on a Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum).
Location: Botanical Garden of Berlin
Date: 2022-06-08
Very curly form
Location: Charleston, SC
Date: 2018-02-11
Location: Summerton, SC
Date: 2020-07-25
This is in a bald cypress tree on Santee Cooper lake.
Location: Hortus Lapidarius
Location: Royal Botanic Gardens,, N.S.W., Australia
Date: 2016-04-25
Location: Charleston, SC
Date: 2013-05-15
Photo by DavidofDeLand
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2017-10-27
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2017-10-27
Location: Hortus Lapidarius
Location: Hortus Lapidarius
Location: Hortus Lapidarius
Date: 2023-09-17
Location: Private collection
Date: 2020-06-01
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2017-10-27
Location: Missouri Botanical Garden (Mobot) in St Louis
Date: 2016-06-18
Location: My garden
Date: 2017-02-06
Location: my garden, Florida
Date: 2018-07-16
Location: zone 8 Lake City, Fl.
Date: 2012-03-17
seed pod which has sprung open & released the seeds to fly away o
Location: Wilmington, North Carolina (Country Club drive)
Date: May 24, 2023
Spanish Moss #459; RAB p. 268, 37-1-1; AG p. 511,111-1-1: MBG, "G
Location: Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney,, N.S.W., Australia
Date: 2016-04-25
Photo by drdawg
Photo by sedumzz
Location: BF House - Chesterfield, Mo. (MOBOT)
Date: 2009-09-29
BF is a Variable Cracker
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2016-02-04
Ospreys used it in construction of their nest.
Photo by drdawg
Photo by drdawg
Location: sf, ca
Date: 4-18-2016
tillandsia usneoides
Location: My garden
Date: 2017-02-06
Just too early....
Location: My garden
Date: 2017-02-06
....just too late!
Location: zone 8/9 Lake City, Fl.
Date: 2011-12-01
Location: Austria / Wiener Neustadt
Date: 2015-12-07
Photo by drdawg
Location: Marianna, Florida panhandle
Date: 2017-05-09
An epiphyte which rarely harms the tree
Location: Telly's Greenhouse, Troy, MI
Date: 2012-02-13
Location: Telly's Greenhouse, Troy, MI
Date: 2012-02-13
Photo by TheOrchidGirl
Location: Canoga Park, California
Date: 2007-08-08
Location: zone 8/9 Lake City, Fl.
Date: 2011-12-01
spanish moss that has died after laying on ground
Location: zone 8/9 Lake City, Fl.
Date: 2011-12-01
Photo by robertduval14
Location: Telly's Greenhouse, Troy, MI
Date: 2012-02-13
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Comments:
  • Posted by plantladylin (Sebastian, Florida - Zone 10a) on Sep 8, 2011 4:21 PM concerning plant:
    "Spanish Moss" is a common sight in the deep south. It is an epiphyte that uses the Southern Live Oak, Bald Cypress, and other trees as its host. The plant has thin stems with alternate, curved, curling, heavily scaled leaves. It grows in a chainlike manner, seeming to "drip" from the trees. Being epiphytic, it does not take nutrients from its host tree but rather absorbs nutrients from air and rainfall. Tillandsia usneoides rarely kills the tree it is attached to, but it blocks light to the tree's leaves, reducing the growth rate of its host.
  • Posted by flaflwrgrl (North Fl. - Zone 8b) on Dec 4, 2011 8:24 PM concerning plant:
    Spanish moss is gray when dry and light green when wet and it has no roots. The flowers are inconspicuous, pale green or blue, and fragrant at night. Spanish moss is not a moss at all, but is closely related to the pineapple and other bromeliads.
    Spanish moss hangs from tree limbs, especially live oak and cypress, and even from power lines and fences. It grows throughout the southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain from Virginia to Texas. Spanish moss also can be found growing in the West Indies and Central and South America as far south as Argentina.
    Spanish moss gets all the water it needs from the rain and gets nourishment from the dust in the air. It is not a parasite plant. During dry periods, it becomes dormant, and it resurrects when rain returns.
    It produces tiny seeds that sail on the wind and catch on tree branches. Birds and the wind carry pieces of the plant to new locations, which may be the most common means of propagation.
    Spanish moss can become so thick that it shades the leaves of the trees it grows upon, and it can become so heavy when wet from rain that it breaks branches. Occasionally, trees may become weakened, but they generally are not killed by Spanish moss.
    Spanish moss makes a great mulch and is often used in decorative floral arrangements and handicrafts.
    Spanish moss does harbor red bugs or chiggers, and for that reason it should not be used for bedding, for stuffing upholstery, or for packing material without first treating it to kill them. Microwaving is one method used, as well as boiling in water.
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WebTucker On May 24, 2023 Obtained plant
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so sweeeeeet! by Mutisia Dec 28, 2019 12:19 PM 3

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