What is Spanish moss?
'''Spanish moss''' (''Tillandsia usneoides'') is a [[flower]]ing [[plant]] that grows on [[trees]] in many tropical and subtropical areas in the [[Americas]]. It is known in the United States. It is often found on the southern live oak (''Quercus virginiana'') and bald cypress (''Taxodium distichum''). It lives in the [[lowland]]s, [[swamps]], and [[marshes]] of the [[mid-Atlantic]] and southeastern states, from the coast of southeastern [[Virginia]] to [[Florida]] and west to southern [[Arkansas]] and [[Texas]]. Spanish moss is not parasitic: it is an [[epiphyte]] which absorbs nutrients and water through its own leaves from the air and rain falling upon it. Spanish moss has been used for many purposes, including building insulation, mulch, packing material, mattress stuffing, and fiber. In the early 1900s it was used commercially in the padding of car seats. [[Category:Poales]] [[Category:Epiphytes]] {{-}} {{biology-stub}}