What is Spanish moss, and does it hurt trees?

Its scientific name is Tillandsia usneoides. It has no roots. Special scales on the plant collect water and nutrients from the air, rain and bits of debris. It turns gray when it is dry and resting, and turns green again when it soaks up rain. It usually makes a single greenish, fragrant flower in the spring, around April.

It grows on live oaks, cypress, pines, sweetgum and crapemyrtle, and also on fences and telephone poles. The University of Florida says it does not kill trees. It often grows thick on a tree that is already declining, because a thinning canopy lets in more sun, and the moss gets the blame. Heavy growth can shade a tree's leaves, but on a healthy tree the effect is small. For a tree that worries you, UF recommends a certified arborist. Moss that is pulled off will likely grow back.

Chiggers live mostly in low, damp places. Moss lying on the ground may have them. Moss hanging in trees rarely does.

Some early Floridians earned a living collecting it. It was used to stuff car seats, mattresses and furniture and to insulate houses. The state once had 35 moss-processing plants; the last one burned in 1958. Today it is collected for the craft and floral trade.

Wildlife uses it. Two kinds of bats rest in it by day, zebra longwing butterflies roost in it at night, and parula warblers and Baltimore orioles use it in their nests.

Where to go from here.