SPANISH MOSS 

 LENDS MORE THAN 



A GRACEFUL 

 SOUTHERN ACCENT 



E 



By Carla Burgess 



ew natural sights are more character- 

 istic of our Coastal Plain than Spanish 

 moss, the essential accessory of any 

 respectable Southern tree. It wouldn't 

 seem fitting for a bald cypress or live 

 oak to be unadorned by its silvery 

 festoons. Although it makes a home 

 high in tree boughs, Spanish moss is 

 not a parasite. That it strangles and 

 kills hardwoods is a myth. Even the 

 name is misleading, for it is neither 

 Spanish nor moss. 



The plant was christened by 

 Kiawah Indians, who noticed that the 

 long, flowing beards of Spanish settlers 

 rivaled the mosslike tresses that draped 

 tree branches. That's the story nature 

 train driver Angela Liles tells visitors 

 to Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in 

 Charleston, S.C. 



A member of the Tillandsia fam- 

 ily, Spanish moss is related to the 

 pineapple. And like bromeliads, it is an 

 epiphyte or aerial plant, having no 

 structural relationship to the surface on 



which it rests. Being rootless, Spanish 

 moss can even thrive on telephone 

 poles or other supportive objects. 



The slender, elongated stems and 

 leaves are covered with scales that 

 resemble gray hairs. These scales 

 help the plant drink in dew and rain- 

 water. Dust provides a steady diet of 

 minerals. 



Both herbaceous and perennial, 

 Spanish moss flowers from April to 

 July in coastal North Carolina. Its 

 pointed, sticky seeds are blown 

 through the air and often bind in 

 cracks and crevices of bare or dying 

 branches, where the plant can flourish. 

 This, coupled with the fact that heavy, 

 saturated moss can take a toll on old, 

 weak limbs, often causes the mistaken 

 belief that Spanish moss kills trees. 

 Probably its only true nuisance is in 

 pecan groves, where the plant can 

 cover the desired fruit. 



In the United States, the plant 

 lives along the coast from southern 



Virginia to Texas. Found primarily in 

 highly humid areas, the plant can 

 swell to nearly 75 percent water, 

 turning rubbery green. In North Caro- 

 lina, Spanish moss grows in most of 

 the coastal counties, generally 60 to 

 80 miles inland, says Alan Johnson, a 

 curator at the N.C. Botanical Garden. 



Through the years, humans and 

 animals have been creative in their 

 uses of Spanish moss. Henry Ford 

 stuffed the seats of his first Model T 

 with it, writes naturalist Todd 

 Ballantine in Tideland Treasures. 

 Similarly, early manufacturers used it 

 in bedding and furniture. The ginning 

 and milling of Spanish moss once 

 supported a lucrative industry in parts 

 of the Southeast. Its homey attributes 

 aren't lost on the animal kingdom 

 either: Squirrels and birds pad their 

 nests with it. 



Herbalists reportedly made a tea 

 from Spanish moss to relieve rheuma- 

 tism and abscesses. Archaeological 

 excavations in Louisiana revealed its 

 use as a binder in early Native Ameri- 

 can pottery. 



Its lore and legend are vast, says 

 an N.C. State University zoologist 

 who studies the microscopic animals 

 inhabiting this furry-looking plant. 



Harold Heatwole has traveled the 

 coast from Virginia to Texas collect- 

 ing Spanish moss. Meanwhile, he's 

 amassed a wealth of folklore to ac- 

 company his specimens. 



"In some places, people will put a 

 little wad of it in their shoe, and they 

 believe that keeps their blood pressure 

 from getting too high," says Heatwole, 

 recalling a tidbit he picked up in Hog 

 Hammock, Ga. Another reported use 

 of the plant was as an absorbent filling 

 for homemade diapers, he says. 

 Equally fascinating is what 



22 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1995 



