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The common 'Spanish Moss' is now a widespread weed species in the new world. The long trailing stems latch onto trees and power cables and form large hanging clumps.
I am hoping that it will be hardy enough to survive in a cold greenhouse - when I move it into warmer conditions it suffers from low humidity in the winter and
takes a long time to recover. It was a surprise to find the clump in flower, though I have found an old seed head tangled in it before, so I knew that it did flower. Although I have grown it, on and off, for many years I have always struggled to keep the balance between humidity and low winter temperature. It isn't hardy enough to come through the winter in the greenhouse reliably and it dessicates in the house. The North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox says: "Spanish moss is an epiphytic, evergreen herbaceous perennial in the pineapple family (Bromeliaceae). It is native to the southern USA, along with Mexico, Central and much of South America. The species epithet means “like Usea,” which is a genus of lichen. Spanish moss is noted for its pendulous silver leaves and stems that dangle down from the limbs of trees, especially live oaks. The adult plant has no roots, and the gray scales on stems and leaves are its means of obtaining moisture and nutrition. It needs high humidity and pollution-free conditions to grow. The slender long stems attach themselves to trees, either when the seed germinates on the limb or when a fragment of the plant blown by the wind lodges in the tree. The plants produce small, green flowers that are seldom noticed." |
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| 14th November 2006 | ||
