Birds like to nest in it, particularly Warblers and the Baltimore Oriole. The funny thing about Spanish Moss is that hanging moss has no red bugs but once it is put down on the ground for bedding it is immediately full of red bugs. Another temporary remedy for all itches: run extremely hot water (just short of scalding) over the itching area. 1 of 2 Go to page. The cooling effect of Spanish moss did not escape manufacturers’ attention in hot climates, such as that of Florida. I am saying it has never happened to me. Another is that most insects have breathing tubes an if you clog the tubes (oil was used on head lice) it kills them. Other Uses. I like you more than half as much You just have to put enough on to coat the bugger. I’ve gotten also them in knee-high brush. Because of its water-retaining ability and lack of most pathogens, it is ideal for seed-starting mixes or use as a soil amendment. When the moss absorbs moisture its weight can increase tenfold. The outer gray bark was often used as mulch. Reese hart, a local chemist made perfume from Tillandsia usenoides flowers. Spanish Moss can be used as highly effective mulch for container or traditional gardening. I have found both methods work well for me when in chigger country. Stick your finger into the can of grease and then rub it into the chigger bite. Go. Nail polish help seals the irritated area. Use it in your compost sparingly. Many animals use Spanish moss for protection, taking cover in the thick masses. Let go darlin’ Therefore it's recommended to start harvesting with the lowest hanging part. Lofty as the southern love we’ve found Would you be able to refer me to some articles on Ball moss? It is so heavy on some trees that it does not let the leaves photosynthesize. Up until around 1960 Spanish moss was used for all sorts of everyday items such as stuffing for car seats and furniture. Best offers for your Garden - https://amzn.to/2InnD0w-----Facts on Spanish Moss. Oracle Card Reading VIDEO (One Question: 5 Cards), Magical Advice: 1 Question Answered by a Real Witch! According to Green Dean from Eat the Weeds, Spanish moss was brewed by Natives to treat rheumatism, fever, and to ease childbirth contractions. Spanish moss receives all of its nutrients and moisture from the air and is not considered a parasite to the tree, it only uses the tree for support. But… the term “Spanish Moss” seem to be rather late day innovation. Shears are required to harvest it. This plant has no children Legal Status. It’s floats and sways like ghostly spirits as it hangs from large oak trees and cypress trees here in the deep south. I have heard stories of biting bugs coming from Spanish Moss I am not sure from the tree canopy. That is why you must cover twice the area of the ‘bite’, otherwise they will move, as evidenced by a red line. One jumping spider, Pelegrina tillandsiae, is found only on Spanish Moss. But not from Spanish Moss in trees. It is not a moss, but a plant in the bromeliad family. It is rarely found growing on large trees like Vines from vanilla Minecraft. We live in Michigan. Chiggers and other small pests inhabit Spanish moss, particularly when it’s on the ground. Spanish Moss Care. Hope this helps! Continue with Google. Find YOUR God And Goddess: PowerPoint Presentation. Lol. Because of its water-retaining ability and lack of most pathogens, it is ideal for seed-starting mixes or use as a soil amendment. 7th generation Floridian – as long as clear nail polish had been available it has been used as a cure. Other uses for Spanish Moss include: Lids for cooking pots, emergency blankets, insulation, mixed with clay to strengthen plaster, used to fire pots, used in tanning and to skim scum off cooking liquids, fiber woven into floor mats, to make string, rope and sacks, fire arrows to destroy invaders’ forts, doll decorations and Voodoo doll stuffing. Spanish moss hangin’ down It has no roots but entangles itself to the host tree by means of long scaly stems. But Spanish moss is neither a moss nor a parasite. The irony is that in only grows in humid areas. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. The survival uses for moss are many and varied. Either way, if it works, who cares if the reason why is wrong? I agree I have lived in Florida since I was a babe and clear polish works its the only thing. Dry Spanish moss has traditionally been used for a variety of applications, including: Fire arrows; Clay used to plaster insides of houses; Fire-tempered pottery; Construction and decoration of small dolls; Nesting material for birds; Animal fodder; Flower arrangements and mulch; Health Benefits of … But it has a great number of other uses . I keep reading the nail polish trick is a total myth. Nasty smalls bugs that bite! Here we provide you with spanish moss uses, legends and its magic. Spanish moss has a variety of human uses and at one time was harvested and ginned commercially. Harvesting it with shears will destroy all Moss that hangs below it. Today it is sometimes used for stuffing or packing material, but it is more widely used for floral arrangements and mulch. Nothing works as well as Deet for keeping them off of me, and I’ve tried everything but salted pork fat. Her hair stayed in the tree and continued to grow, becoming what we call Spanish moss. Let go darlin’ I know Spanish moss can get out of hand, but here, in NE Mississippi, Spanish moss is very seldom seen. And it was worn by women of higher nobility in certain tribes. Here’s my simple trick to get rid of bugs and chiggers: microwave it! Or, you can throw it into a pile for about six months where it will rot naturally. It also thrives in warmer, more humid regions. Spanish moss can be used in clusters or spread out – whichever way you choose, Spanish moss creates an elegant and relaxed woodland appeal and is especially popular as part of wedding decorations. Green Deane, Save Share. Spanish Moss cannot be climbed on. Uses for Spanish Moss. Spanish moss is linked to the element Air as its seeds are spread in the wind. As early as 300 years ago it was called Old Man’s Beard, White Beard and Spanish Beard. Spanish Moss Tillandsia Usneiodes & Its Many Uses We’ve all seen it in the movies. I have used it on chigger bites on myself more than once. Keeping that in mind, I use Spanish moss in my witch bottles, and in any binding spells that I do. One is that it sequesters the bug. thank you for all the great information! It actually has an important role in Florida's ecology. Spanish moss not only has magical uses, it’s had many practical uses over the years. (Salt pork grease works well too). Spanish Moss — which isn’t a moss — was used to stuff car seats and furniture not only in the United States but Europe as well. We’d just moved to FL from north GA, and I’d never seen the stuff. Georgia pine and Ripple wine Spanish moss is commonly found hanging from the limbs of Southern live oaks and bald cypress trees. A parasite takes its nutrients from the host. I grow it as a novelty and also because I was told I could not grow it. I would rather get chiggers myself than intentionally give them to someone else (even a dog. If Spanish moss covers your tree, however, you may want to remove it using an anti-fungal spray. The birders I went out with many years ago would sprinkle sulfur (sulphur) powder around their ankles and waist and that worked to repel chiggers. Other uses for Spanish Moss include: Lids for cooking pots, emergency blankets, insulation, mixed with clay to strengthen plaster, used to fire pots, used in tanning and to skim scum off cooking liquids, fiber woven into floor mats, to make string, rope and sacks, fire arrows to destroy invaders’ forts, doll decorations and Voodoo doll stuffing. I sprayed it with insecticidal soap. Just like you, Deane, I get red bug and chigger bites from some grasses in some areas also. PH will not matter in the compost pile. Because of Spanish moss’s legendary association with the death of the Native princess and woven into mourners’ clothing, it is also linked to death and funerary rites. It gets moisture from the air and nutrients from rotting plant matter that settles within the moss and on the tree limbs where it is attached. I like to experiment! Te flowers lead to tiny capsules which split open to release even smaller seeds. We have a lot of it growing here in College Station Texas and I would like to learn how to extract its medicinal properties and learn a little bit more about its edible tips. Harvesting it with shears will destroy all Moss that hangs below it. Medicinally an extract has shown the ability to cause death of tumor cells. Spanish moss is found in swamp and swamp like biomes. He would take a long journey on foot rather than take a short boat trip to the same destination. I don’t know if that is true but they took out a patent on it. But it can be used to insulate things like shelters, just not ground bedding. As a Magical Herb , this eerie-looking plant has contradictory uses: a few folks claim it enhances Money Charms , but Root Workers will tell you that it is a powerful ingredient in Evil Work , for which purpose they add it to War Water . I adjust my time depending on how much I’m using … but a minute or so does the job on a small bowl full. And that brings me to another medical use for salt pork… oh, wait, this is a foraging site…. A: Over time, Spanish moss has been used for clothing, as padding in pillows and mattresses, and even as part of swamp coolers. Guess I’d better go According to the Natives, Spanish moss was sometimes worn by mourners, typically women. The peak of the commercial harvest of Spanish moss may have come in the late 1930s. bromeliads (air plants such as Spanish moss, Tillandsia usneoides; Bromeliaceae) absorb water and minerals via foliar trichomes. See more ideas about spanish moss… It is rarely found growing on large trees like Vines from vanilla Minecraft. This can be hard in Florida since the climate is sub-tropical; this means that moss can grow—and grow fast. Foraging should never begin without the guidance and approval of a local plant specialist. It was chemically stripped of its outer gray bark and use for that purpose up until about 1960. Spanish Moss can absorb water up to ten times its dry weight! Use your fingers to pick out any debris such as small branches and leaves and discard. Other uses for Spanish Moss include: Lids for cooking pots, emergency blankets, insulation, mixed with clay to strengthen plaster, used to fire pots, used in tanning and to skim scum off cooking liquids, fiber woven into floor mats, to make string, rope and sacks, fire arrows to destroy invaders’ forts, doll decorations and Voodoo doll stuffing. You have a protective barrier and contact from anything the brushes past it won’t stimulate an itchy frenzy. Mulch. It will begin to itch fiercely, then quit and go away. The It’s a flowering plant in the bromeliad family found in tropical and subtropical regions of the U.S., Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Spanish Moss usually doesn’t harm the tree. Spanish moss takes no nourishment or moisture from trees, and only uses them for protection and support. The tourists I have seen made wigs out of it, very funny ! If hanging moss is taken and put on a raised platform for bedding, then its not on the ground. As I love your Spanish moss It is not a parasite but an epiphyte so it doesn’t harm the tree unless it grows so prolifically to shade the tree from sunlight. I am conducting an ethnobotanical study on plants all over the globe for the university I attend. Wetland Status. There is an explanation but it’s on linguistic quicksand. Spanish moss actually isn’t a moss at all. Magical Ancestor Origins Profile: Find MAGICK in Your Family History!!! We visited Mississippi recently, and gathered Spanish Moss for mulch on our garden. I like to experiment! It’s really not food. I’ve also used it in some crochet spell work that I’ve done. Fertilizer. The moss’ bulk may block some sunlight but it uses the tree only for support. Itching for days from red bug bites is no fun. Other claims for it include treatment of infant epilepsy, estrogen substitute, and antibacterial uses. Greenthumb. I used to feed one using tweezers and blind deceased mosquitoes. It doesn’t feed off the trees. It’s a lot like the “rocks in the bottoms of a pot vs. no rocks in the bottom of a pot” argument. Lucky I guess. So I’m rollin’ north thinkin’ It’s this intriguing plant that creates a unique Gothic, deep south landscape in many Southern movies and shows. Therefore, since it doesn’t obtain nourishment from the host plant, it does little or no harm. Spanish moss is found in swamp and swamp like biomes. SPANISH MOSS is a common sight in parts of the Old South, where it festoons ancient trees with its greyish growths. First let’s talk about red bugs and chiggers, microscopic irritations said to live on Spanish Moss. It is used as a traditional filler for stuffing doll babies and is essentially neutral until charged with specific intent. It’s also been used as an estrogen substitute and Spanish moss has antibacterial properties. Learn how your comment data is processed. But what about Spanish moss medicine? Spanish moss (tillandsia usneoides) comes from the Bromeliaceae family. Learn More in these related Britannica articles: angiosperm: Dermal tissue. May 15, 2020 - Spanish moss, also called Old Man's Beard, is a prominent hanging plant in the South. How Humble Moss Healed the Wounds of Thousands in World War I The same extraordinary properties that make this plant an “ecosystem engineer” also helped save human lives Few years ago it was raked from trees in long, thick masses that may reach 20′ in length stuffing. Host tree by means of long scaly stems run extremely hot water ( nasty. Lot when I do their beards so it ’ s had many practical uses over globe. We made fun of her when she was out of their sheath use Spanish moss neither! “ first suggestion: next time, pay attention to the tissue to death! 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