Spanish Moss - Tillandsia Usneoides

Tillandsia Usneoides (Spanish Moss) is an epiphytic plant from the Bromeliad family that often grows upon larger trees in tropical and subtropical climates, native to much of Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Central America, South America, the Southern United States, West Indies and is also naturalised in Queensland (Australia)

Spanish moss like many Tillandsia is covered with trichomes (tiny gray scales), these trap water until the plant can absorb it. The plant’s tissues can hold more water than the plant needs, to keep it going through dry periods. When the tissues plump up after a rain, Spanish moss appears more green. As the water is used, it returns to a gray hue.

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Flowering and Seeds:

Spanish Moss produces a beautiful but very small flower and shortly after can get pollenated and form a seed pod. These seeds are light with feathery appendages and much like a compact dandelion seed. This allows them to float through the air until they land on a good spot to grow: another tree or rock.