One of the most visible signs of our local “Southern Ecology” is Spanish Moss. It has been eulogized in poetry, novels and song for centuries.
It is closely associated with our mental images of the traditional “Southern Culture” from the days of the great plantations to the present. One of the most common questions asked about Spanish Moss is “how did it get its name?”
No one seems to really know, but of literally dozens of fables the one I find most appropriate is of a mounted Spanish conquistador who was pursuing a maiden through a heavily wooded forest. During the pursuit he got his long black beard caught in the branches of an Oak tree.
Spanish moss is a common site in many hardwood trees in north Florida. Despite stories to the contrary, this stringy plant material is not a parasite nor is it generally harmful to the trees it hangs in.
The beard was torn off and over the years it turned grey with age. Ultimately it began to be spread by the wind from tree to tree where it began to grow and spread throughout the woods.
Another interesting fallacy is that Spanish Moss is really a moss. This is incorrect.
It is a Bromeliad and a member of the pineapple family of air plants. It is not a parasite but rather derives most of its nutrients from the air and rain.
Large oak limbs, when covered with Spanish Moss, may look as if they would break under the weight of it, but it is not very heavy at all.
In fact, many of these moss-covered limbs may have only between twenty to fifty pounds of moss hanging on them. Given that Live Oak may weigh over sixty pounds per cubic foot with limbs that may weigh over a ton, it is not likely moss will contribute to the failure of a healthy tree.
Generally, trees heavily loaded with moss are not made more dangerous due to just the moss. However, in a declining tree, with weak or damaged limb structure, it may be possible moss is the “straw that breaks the camel’s back.”
But if this is the case, then such weak limbs should probably already have been removed due to any structurally compromising defects if in a home or commercial landscape.
Many years ago, a former state official in Tallahassee had moss placed in his Live Oaks. He had a very traditional “southern style“ home built on Live Oak Plantation Road, and did not feel the trees looked right without Spanish Moss hanging in them.
Those trees have not failed over the years due to having the moss installed on them.
Sometimes individuals allegedly representing tree care or pest control companies have suggested to homeowners they need to spray the moss in trees or risk the possibility of the moss breaking the tree or its limbs.
Given the fact that moss is not very heavy it is completely unnecessary to spray moss in a healthy and structurally sound tree.
One valid concern of having a dense covering of moss in a tree which is stressed due to some mechanical injury or environmental issue is that the moss may reduce the amount of sunlight available to the foliage of the tree. This may reduce the potential for photosynthesis which produces food (sugar) for the tree.
This scenario could then lead to further decline. Moss itself is not the initiating factor, but moss also needs light to make its food. A heavily foliated tree will therefore generally have less moss than one with less foliage, as it is better able to compete with the moss for light.
Enjoy the beauty of the Spanish moss. It is an important part of the charm of the region.
Leave a Reply