Tillandsia Usneoides or Spanish moss is not actually a type of moss but an epiphytic Bromeliad also known as an air plant. It grows on trees in a non-parasitic manner, relying on raindrops and humid air as its natural water sources.
Spanish moss consists of one or more slender stems, bearing alternate thin, curved or curly, and heavily scaled leaves 2–6 cm long and 1 mm broad, that grow vegetatively in a chain-like fashion (pendant), forming hanging structures of up to 6 m. The plant has no aerial roots and its brown, green, yellow, or grey flowers are tiny and inconspicuous. While its presence rarely kills the trees on which it grows, it occasionally becomes so thick that, by shading the leaves of the tree, it lowers the growth rate of the tree.
Size: 45 cm long (approx.)
*The term ‘air plants’ is the common name for Tillandsias, a type of Bromeliad, because they don’t need to be planted in soil. In the wild, deserts of Central and South America, the southern United States and the West Indies, Tillandsias colonize objects such as rocks and trees by clinging on to them with their roots.
Air plants are epiphytes and need no soil because water and nutrients are absorbed through the leaves. The roots are mainly used as anchors.