Species · genus Tillandsia · Bromeliaceae

Spanish Moss

Tillandsia usneoides (L.) L.

Also known as: Old Man's Beard

Growth habit

epiphyte

Native range

Alabama, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Arkansas, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Chile Central, Chile North, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Florida, French Guiana, Georgia, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Louisiana, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Mississippi, Nicaragua, North Carolina, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Suriname, Texas, Trinidad-Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Virginia, Windward Is.

Reference · T. usneoides

Cultivars of T. usneoides

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under T. usneoides yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Spanish moss is a rootless epiphyte that absorbs all its water and nutrients from the air through its silver-grey scales, draping from branches across a broad warm-temperate to tropical range. It takes no soil; mist or briefly soak the strands, then let them dry out fully within a few hours, and water again when they feel dry and the colour dulls toward grey. Good airflow is essential — strands left damp without drying will rot.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 3-7d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 7 days

Humidity

High

Temperature

10–32 °C

Soil mix

None — draped and displayed bare as an air plant

Propagation

Division of strands; each fragment grows on

Fertilizing

Dilute air-plant feed misted monthly

Growth rate

Slow

Flowering

Tiny inconspicuous green-yellow flowers

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Not yet documented

This is where toxicity lives — every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 3-7d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Spanish Moss yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.