Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Commelinids: Poales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (5/21/15):
Tillandsia usneoides
FAMILY
Bromeliaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Tillandsia from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Tillandsia usneoides
FAMILY
Bromeliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 037-01-001:
Tillandsia usneoides
FAMILY
Bromeliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Dendropogon usneoides
COMMON NAME:
Spanish Moss
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm0303b_14
March Beaufort County SC
Hunting Island State Park
'usneoides' refers to its superficial resemblance to the common lichen Usnea, per Weakley's Flora (2015).
)
JK Marlow jkm0303f_08
March Beaufort County SC
Hunting Island State Park
)
Mark A. Musselman mam_spanishmosseed051906
May Dorchester County SC
Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest
Reproduction mainly vegetative, but reproduction by seeds does occur, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC.
)
Mark A. Musselman mam_spanishmossflo051906
May Dorchester County SC
Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest
Flowers occur during April, May and June, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC.
)
Mark A. Musselman mam_spanishmossfl060109a
June Dorchester County SC
Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm181111_5896
November Williamsburg County SC
The stems are slender and wiry, the leaves filiform, per Wildflowers of the Eastern United States.
)
JK Marlow jkm181111_5897b
November Williamsburg County SC
Plants in elongate, pendulous festoons, per Weakley's Flora (2015).
)
JK Marlow jkm181111_5897c
November Williamsburg County SC
Both stems and leaves bear numerous small silver-gray scales, per Wildflowers of the Eastern United States.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (5/21/15):
Tillandsia usneoides
FAMILY
Bromeliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Tillandsia usneoides
FAMILY
Bromeliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 037-01-001:
Tillandsia usneoides
FAMILY
Bromeliaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Dendropogon usneoides
1516
Forb
Perennial
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Habitat: Branches of trees, especially in swamps, but elsewhere where air humidity is high enough, often even in dry forests (for instance, Tillandsia is abundant on Quercus laevis in an extensive very dry longleaf pine sandhills near Wilmington, NC, which receives frequent fog from the Cape Fear, Brunswick, and Northeast Cape Fear rivers), per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Simple
Leaves 2-ranked, gray to silver-gray
Margins entire
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Yellowish-green
Flowers are sessile.
Bisexual
Superior ovary
Inflorescence a single flower
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p352
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast p454
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry p088
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States p158
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide p350