North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Tillandsia usneoides

Tillandsia usneoides (L.) L.

spanish moss, spanish-moss

Synonym(s): Dendropogon usneoides, Renealmia usneoides

Image ID: 13111
Image by: Cressler, Alan M.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: TIUS
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Tillandsia usneoides
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-01-10

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: TILLA2
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Tillandsia
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Airplant
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 540 species, herbs, of s. North America south to s. South America.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Luther & Brown in FNA (2000); Smith & Till in Kubitzki (1998b). Key based in part on FNA.

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: BROMEL
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Bromeliaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Bromeliad or Pineapple Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 56 genera and 2600 species, herbs, shrubs, and trees, of the New World tropics and subtropics (very rarely warm temperate).
FAMILY REFERENCE: Luther & Brown in FNA (2000); Smith & Till in Kubitzki (1998b).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Perennial with inconspicuous flowers, growing in cascading masses in branches of trees, especially in swamps, but elsewhere where air humidity is high enough.
STEMS: Stems silvery-gray, string-like, covered with gray scales.
LEAVES: Leaves alternate, linear and curling, to 1Â½ in. long; mostly indistinguishable from stems.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers solitary on short stems from leaf axils, green to yellowish-green, about 1/3 in. long, tubular but with 3 spreading, oblong-lance-shaped petals.
FRUITS: Fruit a tan, 3-lobed capsule containing plumed seeds.
COMMENTS: Not parasitic; uses trees as support and absorbs water and some nutrients from air but also photosynthesizes.
HEIGHT: to 10 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb, Vine

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION: Evergreen

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Radial (Actinomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: Apr-Jun

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
		x	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Green or greenish-yellow

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
x					x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Bottomlands
NATIVE RANGE: southeastern United States & Mexico to South America

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average, Moist/Wet
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
8011	2004-0019	2004-03-03		View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
11259	8011	122	Liloia	2004-02-24	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: TIUS
USDA Common Name: Spanish Moss
Native Status: L48 (N), PR (N), VI (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, FL, GA, LA, MD, MS, NC, SC, TX, VA), USA+ (PR, VI)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb, Vine

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	FAC			UPL	UPL	UPL	UPL

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Tillandsia usneoides
COMMON NAME: Spanish-moss
SYNONYMY: [= C, F, FNA, G, K2, RAB, Va, WH3; = Dendropogon usneoides (Linnaeus) Rafinesque - S]
PHENOLOGY: Apr-Jun.
HABITAT: Branches of trees, especially in swamps, but elsewhere where air humidity is high enough, often even in dry forests (near Wilmington, NC Tillandsia is abundant on Quercus laevis in an extensive dry sandhill area which receives frequent fog from the Cape Fear, Brunswick, and Northeast Cape Fear rivers).
COMMENTS: S. MD (historically), se. VA south to s. FL, west to TX and Mexico; Central and South America, West Indies. T. usneoides is the only member of a very large genus to occur north of s. GA. The epithet usneoides refers to its (very general and superficial) resemblance to the common lichen Usnea.
RANGE MAP: Tillandsia usneoides.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Bromeliaceae A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Bromeliad or Pineapple Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 56 genera and 2600 species, herbs, shrubs, and trees, of the New World tropics and subtropics (very rarely warm temperate).
REFERENCE: Luther & Brown in FNA (2000); Smith & Till in Kubitzki (1998b).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Tillandsia L. (Airplant)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 540 species, herbs, of s. North America south to s. South America.
REFERENCE: Luther & Brown in FNA (2000); Smith & Till in Kubitzki (1998b). Key based in part on FNA.

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Tillandsia usneoides in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Tillandsia usneoides in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Tillandsia usneoides in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Tillandsia usneoides in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Tillandsia usneoides in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Tillandsia usneoides

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 13111 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 24679 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 13111 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)