Spanish moss (*Tillandsia usneoides*) is native to subtropical and tropical Mexico, Central America, South America, and the southern United States. Spanish moss is also known as grandpa’s beard in Polynesia. It grows on the surface of southern live oak and bald-cypress trees. It also finds commercial use in insulation, mulch, packing material, and mattress stuffing.
I. Appearance and Characteristics
Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is an epiphytic flowering plant that often grows upon large trees in tropical and subtropical climates. It is native to much of Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Central America, South America, the Southern United States, and West Indies. It has been naturalized in Queensland (Australia). It is known as “grandpa’s beard” in French Polynesia.
Most known in the United States, it commonly is found on the southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) and bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) in the lowlands, swamps, and marshes of the mid-Atlantic and Southeastern states, from the coast of southeastern Virginia to Florida and west to southern Arkansas and Texas. While it superficially resembles its namesake, the lichen Usnea, it is neither a lichen nor a moss, and it is not native to Spain.
Spanish moss consists of one or more slender stems, bearing alternate thin, curved or curly, and heavily scaled leaves 2–6 cm (0.8–2.4 inches) long and 1 mm (0.04 inches) broad, that grow vegetatively in a chain-like fashion (pendant), forming hanging structures of up to 6 m (20 feet).
The plant has no roots. Its flowers are yellow-green and small, with spreading petals. The scape is partly hidden within the leaf sheath. Spanish moss propagates both by seed and vegetatively by fragments that are carried on the wind and stick to tree limbs or that are carried to other locations by birds as nesting material.
Spanish moss is not parasitic: it is an epiphyte that absorbs nutrients and water through its own leaves from the air and rain falling upon it. While its presence rarely kills the trees on which it grows, it occasionally becomes so thick that, by shading the leaves of the tree, it slows the growth rate of the tree. It can use the water-conserving strategy of crassulacean acid metabolism for photosynthesis.
II. How to Grow and Care
Sunlight
As Spanish moss prefers bright scattered light, generally you can put it on the windowsill. Avoid exposure to direct sunlight in summer, and supplement light in winter with fluorescent lamps. Some species have resistance to shade. Changes in light intensity result in leaves changing color.
Temperature
Spanish moss is native to tropical and subtropical regions such as Mexico and South America. In its original habitat, it usually grows on the surface of branches or rocks. It prefers warm climates. The ideal growth temperature for it ranges from 12 to 30 ℃, and the optimum temperature is around 21 ℃. Some species can withstand temperatures as low as 0 ℃. Air plants in genus Tillandsia generally come from sunny and dry areas and require little water.
Spanish moss likes a well-ventilated environment and needs plenty of fresh air. Don’t use much moss in its cultivation, as it can suffocate. Place in a well-ventilated position, preferably where there is always a breeze, or where leaves can dry within 4-6 hours after misting or soaking. Also, protect the plant from hot air blowing on it.
Watering
Moisture can be provided by soaking spanish moss or misting it with water. Take care not to accumulate water between the leaves in spraying, or the leaves will rot. It is better to tilt the plant downward or gently shake it after watering to avoid accumulated water. Don’t soak it for long or mist too often. When the leaves begin to curl, you’ve waited too long; that indicates a serious shortage of water and it needs to be soaked in water to recover.
Soil
Spanish moss, like other epiphytic plants, doesn’t need soil. It prefers to grow on living healthy trees (specifically, tree limbs), although some people have successfully cultivated it using old oak or bald cypress tree’s branches – both are a host tree. Others have formed wire frames from which to hang their Spanish moss. However, it needs to hang straight down from whatever it’s resting on. It does not do well if it bundles up into a mass!
What Spanish moss prefers to soil is good airflow. It needs to be able to sway in the breeze. Most trees will suffice in the right conditions. Large trees give Spanish moss more room to grow.
While it’s not clear exactly what it is about oak and cypress that makes them perfect environments, it’s assumed it has to do with the lack of resinous sap and with their shady canopies. Both live oaks and cypress trees produce large amounts of shade, which makes them perfect for Spanish moss.
Fertilizing
Do not apply fertilizer immediately after buying the plant; let it adapt to the surrounding environment first. Apply fertilizer in appropriate growth seasons, such as intervals between spring and summer or fall and winter. Most species open their stomas (tiny pores) at night, so fertilization is more effective at this time.
It is sensitive to urea, copper, boron, zinc, and other components. In particular, copper ions can cause the death of spanish moss, so only low-copper fertilizers can be used. It’s better to apply a small amount of fertilizer with a high frequency, and less rather than more.
Pruning
Before Spanish moss dies, it produces small seedlings at its base. Prune the dead parts to allow the seedlings to continue growing. Timely pruning of dead leaves or infected parts not only ensures a good look but also prevents ants and other insects from nesting and gnawing the plant.
Propagation
Like most other bromeliads, Spanish moss is often cultivated by offshoots. It can grow to reach lengths of nearly 20 feet, and typically side shoots are cut to start a new plant rather than from the main stem. You can trim off one of the side shoots of your Spanish moss and start treating it as if it were a new plant. Most of the time it will flourish on its own.
You can actually grow Spanish moss from seed as well. However, to harvest seed from Spanish moss, you have to be there at exactly the right time. It is fluffy and easily carried away on the wind like dandelion seeds, which means that the very few seeds each flower produces are whisked away. It’s far easier to start a Spanish moss plant from an existing offshoot.
If you are starting a new Spanish moss cutting, prepare what it’s going to hang from first. Are you going to use a wire frame, an old tree branch, or something else? After you prepare, drape your Spanish moss cutting over the top and water it. Water again once it’s completely dry to encourage further growth.
Pests and Diseases
- Growing Problems
Spanish moss may experience symptoms from either under or overwatering. Browning dry tips may indicate underwatering or a lack of humidity. Provide more water or humidity for a dry Spanish moss plant.
The inverse is also possible. Spanish moss plants need to dry completely between waterings. Therefore, cut back on watering if the foliage becomes brown and mushy. When you do water again, shake off any excess to prevent rot.
- Common Pests
A spider species, Pelegrina tillandsia Kaston, lives in Spanish moss, but it is harmless to humans. Other pests that make their home in Spanish moss include chiggers, spider mites, some species of butterfly, and boll weevils. In the home, you can use a typical insecticidal or miticidal spray or organic alternative to keep pests out of your Spanish moss.
Once Spanish moss has died and fallen to the ground, frogs make homes in it. Birds also harvest Spanish moss as nesting material, both living and dead, so if you’re starting a batch of moss outside, you may want to protect it from bird theft until it’s grown enough to handle it. Some species of bat may also use Spanish moss for daytime shelter.
It’s also a very disease-free plant on the whole, only being susceptible to rot if it’s left in a large quantity of water for too long. Since it generally hangs to grow, this is unlikely unless the plant has fallen off of its perch somehow.
III. Uses and Benefits
- Ornamental uses
Spanish moss grows in humid and subtropical gardens. It hangs decoratively from trees and can be harvested for use in craft projects and cut flower arrangements. Spanish moss is usually featured in Southern gardens. It needs to be planted with large trees like oak or cypress to grow.
- Culture and folklore
Spanish moss is often associated with Southern Gothic imagery and Deep South culture, due to its propensity for growing in subtropical humid southern locales such as Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, east and south Texas, and extreme southern Virginia.
One anecdote about the origin of Spanish moss is called “the Meanest Man Who Ever Lived”, in which the man’s white hair grew very long and got caught on trees.
Spanish moss was introduced to Hawaii in the nineteenth century. It became a popular ornamental and lei plant. In Hawaii, it was named “Ê»umiÊ»umi-o-Dole” after the beard of Sanford B. Dole, the first president of the Provisional Government of Hawaii. It is also known as hinahina, (“silvery”) borrowing the name of the native heliotrope used in lei until shoreline development made access difficult. It has become a substitute for the native hinahina in lei used for pageantry. In the early 21st century the plant was heavily marketed as “Pele’s hair”/”lauoho-o-Pele”, which actually refers to a type of filamentous volcanic glass.
- Human uses
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. More than 10,000 tons of processed Spanish moss was produced in 1939. Today, it is collected in smaller quantities for use in arts and crafts, as bedding for flower gardens, and as an ingredient in bousillage, a traditional wall covering material. In some parts of Latin America and Louisiana, it is used in nativity scenes.
In the desert regions of southwestern United States, dried Spanish moss is sometimes used in the manufacture of evaporative coolers, colloquially known as “swamp coolers” (and in some areas as “desert coolers”), which are used to cool homes and offices much less expensively than air conditioners. The cooling technology uses a pump that 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 air temperature, cooling the building.
