1874.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
261 
Long Moss—Tillandsia. 
To the traveler in the Southern States no 
natural object is likely to be more striking than 
the Long Moss, which from North Carolina to 
Texas drapes the trees of all kinds, but is espe¬ 
cially abundant upon those which grow in 
damp situations. This moss is sometimes 
found only here and there in small tufts, 
but frequently it is in such quantities upon a 
tree as to appear to fill all the spaces between 
its branches, and from the lower limbs it 
hangs in pendent tufts several feet in length, 
which as they are swayed by the wind wave 
with a certain grace. In localities where the 
moss is very abundant, its dull gray color 
and general drooping habit produce a very 
somber effect. As it grows most luxuriantly 
in situations which from being constantly 
moist are unhealthy, it is easy to associate it 
with disease and death, and in some locali¬ 
ties it bears the not very cheerful name of 
“ Coffin Fringe.” Though popularly called 
moss, it does not belong to the proper mosses 
at all, but, strange as it may seem, to the 
Pineapple Family, the Bromeliacece. Its bo¬ 
tanical name is Tillandsia usneoides. The 
genus was named in honor of a Russian pro¬ 
fessor, Tillands, and its specific name means, 
resembling Usnea, a long drooping lichen 
which hangs from Northern trees in a similar 
manner. Including this there are eight spe¬ 
cies of Tillandsia in the United States, this 
being the only slender pendulous one; some 
of the others have broad, pineapple-like leaves, 
two feet or more long, with their bases di¬ 
lated so as to hold water. All the Tillandsias 
are epiphytes— i. e., they grow upon other 
plants, mostly upon the branches and trunks 
of trees, but they are not. parasites, as they 
desire no nutriment from the plant to which 
they are attached; this merely serves them 
as a resting-place, and they are nourished en¬ 
tirely by what the air and the rains bring to 
them. Some of the South American and 
West Indian species are valued as ornamental 
hot-house plants, and are usually grown in 
pots of sphagnum, a condition which ap¬ 
proaches nearly to their natural one. Indeed, 
our Southern species are some of them quite 
handsome, especially T. bracteata, the bright 
red stems of which bear small purple flowers. 
The species under consideration, T. usneoides , 
is, as just stated, of a very different habit 
from the others; its long, branching stems 
are so slender as to be almost thread-like. 
Several years ago we wished, in answer to 
some questions, to give a figure of this plant. 
Having herbarium specimens, we supposed J- 
that with these and the aid of an engrav¬ 
ing of the flower we could easily present an 
illustration of it; but much to our surprise 
we discovered that the only engraving of 
this very common and useful plant was to 
be found in a work published in Paris in 
1823—and not accessible. We then attempt¬ 
ed to procure living materials for an engrav¬ 
ing, and wrote to several correspondents 
in the Southern States to send us the 
plant in flower. We received abundant spe¬ 
cimens with the remains of seed-pods, which 
were no doubt mistaken for flowers, but only 
this spring have we been able to procure the 
flower. Our correspondent, Dr. .H. G. Lun- 
gren, of Volusia Co., Fla., sent us flowering 
specimens, and though the flowers he packed 
all faded, an abundance of others opened when 
the plant was placed in the greenhouse, and we 
are thus enabled to give an engraving of the plant 
in flower. We mention these matters to 
show the difficulties which sometimes attend 
the illustration of a very common plant. 
The slender stems produce leaves at intervals 
of about three inches, which are narrow, re¬ 
curved, and from two to three inches long; 
from the axil of each a branch is produced, 
F.c.mTz.stL. 
long moss. —(Tillandsia usneoides.) 
which may be terminated by a flower or be 
much prolonged to form a part of the tangled 
mass of stems of which each plant consists 
The plant presents one peculiarity of which we 
find no mention in any of the descriptions: 
each intemode, or space of the stem between 
two leaves, in the young stems at least, forms 
an open graceful spiral of about two turns, 
which adds much to the beauty of the plant, 
when its stems are separated and allowed to 
grow singly. Both stem and leaves present a 
uniform gray color, which while the plant is 
growing has a greenish tinge; an examination 
with a glass shows the stem and leaves to be of 
a light apple green, but completely covered 
with small, almost transparent, overlapping 
scales, which give the silvery gray appearance. 
The epidermis is readily separated from the 
central portion of the stem, which is tough, 
and resembles horsehair in size and appear¬ 
ance. The solitary flowers are borne at the 
ends of the branches; they have a three- 
parted calyx and a corolla of three petals, 
which, though not more than a fourth of an 
inch across, is exceedingly interesting from 
being of a bright gamboge green color. The 
pod is about an inch long, and splits up in 
such a manner that it looks very much like 
a withered flower; this, together with the 
small size and unusual color of the proper 
flower, has no doubt troubled unbotanical ob¬ 
servers who have endeavored to furnish us 
with flowering specimens. 
Aside from forming a striking feature in 
the landscape, the Long Moss is of no little 
economical importance. The central portion, 
exceedingly tenacious and elastic, has long 
been employed as a substitute for hair. The 
plant is found in Central and South America 
and the West Indies, and has been put to so 
many uses by the Spanish Americans that in 
some localities it is known as “ Spanish 
Moss.” The primitive method of procuring 
the fiber is to place the moss in shallow 
ponds exposed to the sun to rot the some¬ 
what fleshy outer covering; it is then taken 
out and allowed to dry, after which a moder¬ 
ate beating removes the outer portion, and 
the fiber is left in a black, tangled mass, 
which but for its branching character it 
would be difficult to distinguish from hair. 
We learn that since the war several establish¬ 
ments have been erected for the preparation 
of the moss in a more rapid manner. The 
moss is placed in large tanks, where it under¬ 
goes maceration by heat, and after drying is 
beaten by machinery; this is said to afford 
a superior product. By itself it forms an 
excellent stuffing for madresses, chairs, and 
the like, and is probably largely used to mix 
with hair; it forms a considerable article of 
commerce, and its domestic uses are numer¬ 
ous. In Texas we have seen it twisted and 
woven into a coarse matting to serve as a 
saddle blanket, and have also seen horse-col¬ 
lars woven of the same material. It is said 
to be capable of forming excellent ropes and 
cables, and we have recently seen a newspa¬ 
per announcement of the formation of a 
company to manufacture these articles from 
the tough fibres of the Long Moss. 
Apple-Tree Borer. —We have followed 
this insect with a sharp wire for over thirty 
years, and if there is any better remedy for the 
creature after he has begun to throw out his 
chips, we have not discovered it. With a 
sharp-pointed knife and a bit of wire a few 
inches long, it is not a very difficult task to 
dislodge the enemj . He should be attacked as 
soon as he makes his appearance. Young- 
apple-trees should be examined at least twice a 
year. The sooner the borers are destroyed, the 
smaller the wounds that will be made around 
the collar of the tree. Generally the worm 
can be reached with the point of the knife. If 
this can not be done, follow him with wire. 
As a preventive, we have found oil-cloth, or 
