Spanish Moss in Flower on the UL Lafayette Campus

http://www.suzannefredericqseaweedslab.com/. Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is a flowering plant in the family Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) that grows hanging from tree branches in full sun or partial shade. Spanish-moss does not have any roots. It uses its long, thin, scaly stems to wrap around the host tree and hang down from the branches. The leaves are covered with cup-like, permeable scales that 'catch' moisture and nutrients from the air and from pockets on the surface of the host. This water-trapping ability allows Spanish moss to withstand long dry periods. In extreme dry spells, the plant becomes dormant until moisture returns.

The three petals of the tiny, inconspicuous flowers are green with curved tips. Flowers form singly on a short stalk in the axils of leaves on younger portions of the plant, and may give off a light fragrance at night. Tiny red capsules develop after the flowers and eventually split open to release the seeds. Propagation is both by seeds and vegetatively by fragments that blow in the wind and stick to branches.

Spanish-moss was harvested for centuries as a stuffing material in automobile seats, furniture, and mattresses. The moss-stuffed mattresses were said to be cooler and more comfortable due to the natural insulating properties of the plant, especially important in pre-air-conditioning days. Spanish-moss is a popular mulch and is widely used in the floral industry.

Several species of songbirds use the plant material for nest building or weave their nests in the moss clumps.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_moss .
http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/4h/Spanish_moss/spanmoss.htm .

The flowering Spanish moss plants filmed here on the campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette grow epiphytically on Crape Myrtle trees (Lagerstroemia indica), a member of the Loosestrife family (Lythraceae). In the background, one can see Tillandsia hanging from bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) trees in Cypress Lake as well. On the campus, the flowers only bloom for a couple of days in April, soon followed by the production of red open seed capsules. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crape_myrtle
Filmed by Suzanne Fredericq

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Spanis
• Moss
• Tillandsia
• usneoides
• Crape
• myrtle
• epiphyte
• Taxodium
• distichum
• bald
• cypress
• lake
• Lagerstroemia
• indica
• capsule

[2006myangel]

I am in the southern part of GA near FLA.. and I didnt not know it would only live on certain trees

[faelismaegnus]

I suppose the Spanish soldier's still in love with the Native maid, still bound to the tree just like when the young men tied him up in the live oak at her father's command. Lover's beard a-growin'! Wow, I played with Spanish moss all my life, NEVER saw flowers or seed capsules. Live & learn! Thanks for the lesson, Nemastoma and the eye-soothing views of hanging moss swinging in the spring breeze. The forest ants and the moles are busy here in NE Germany. The swallows are back. The swifts? soon