Index / Search / Tillandsia usneoides

§1 Plant

Tillandsia usneoides (L.) L.

vernacular Spanish moss — species · Bromeliaceae


USDA
TIUS
GBIF
2695149
Rank
species
PlateNo public-domain or CC photograph located.

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb, Vine
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Bromeliaceae Juss.
Genus
Tillandsia
§2a

Native status, by region

  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
  • PR Puerto Rico Native
  • VI U.S. Virgin Islands Native
§2b

County-level range

· 287 counties across 10 states/territories
Legend Native · 287 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
None
Shade
Low
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
None
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
None
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
22 °F minimum
Frost-free days
300 min.
Precipitation
40–75 in/yr
pH range
6–6.9
Root depth
0 in min.
Fertility need
Low
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Multiple Stem
Growth rate
Slow
Lifespan
Moderate
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
White-Gray
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Dense
Flower colour
White
Fruit colour
Black
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Summer
Seed abundance
Low
Seed begins
Fall
Seed ends
Winter
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
1,200,000
Propagation
seed, cuttings
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
No Known Source
Nursery stock
No
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 287 counties across 10 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 23 N
Arkansas view state ↗ 8 N
Florida view state ↗ 67 N
Georgia view state ↗ 34 N
Louisiana view state ↗ 56 N
Mississippi view state ↗ 25 N
North Carolina view state ↗ 20 N
South Carolina view state ↗ 25 N
Texas view state ↗ 23 N
Virginia view state ↗ 6 N

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/TIUS ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2695149 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T11:35:19Z