There Is a Rose in Spanish Moss…..

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One of the things that’s common in Florida (as well as parts of Georgia and South Carolina) is Spanish moss. When I went to Savannah I took a photo of a lovely canopy of Spanish moss-covered trees lining a street. It’s so southern. Of course, I got to see some on my recent jaunt. Here’s a little education for you about it. It’s neither Spanish nor moss. It is, according to the University of Florida’s agricultural website, a bromeliad. It’s related to the pineapple. And it’s not a parasite: it doesn’t harm the tree it’s hanging from in any way. It’s an epiphyte, meaning it gets nutrients out of the air instead of from a “host” the way a parasite does. I remember when we took a glass bottom boat ride at Silver Springs State Park in Florida in 1974. They were filming a movie called 99 44/100% Dead there (we never went to see it, so I can’t tell you anything other than Chuck Conners was in it). On the boat ride the guide said that Spanish moss was used in things like cosmetics and as insulation in the house. (You may remember me mentioning last year that it was also used as decorations in the Rhythm Nightclub in Natchez, Mississippi, and was partly responsible for the fire that killed 209 people.) One negative thing about it is that it’s a breeding ground for what we call chiggers. (Other places may know them as “red bugs.”) That’s the one big negative about Spanish moss, and the reason so many people have an unfavorable view of it. I can understand that: touch some, scratch everywhere for three days! All in all, it’s a lovely southern plant (and not unique to the U.S. south: it’s even in Queensland, Australia!) that is as much a part of our fabric as sweet tea and “bless your heart.”