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Image 1- Live Oak with Spanish Moss
The image above was taken on January 19th by the Intracoastal near Wrightsville Beach. The image is of a southern live oak tree (Quercus virginiana) with Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) hanging from its limbs. Spanish moss is common in tropical and subtropical climates growing on larger trees, such as the southern live oak, and is most popular in the southeastern and southwestern United States. Spanish moss is considered an epiphyte-- a plant that lives on a fellow plant but does not cause harm to its host. Because Spanish moss benefits from living on live oaks, but live oaks neither benefit nor are harmed, they interact in a relationship called commensalism. On occasion though, Spanish moss can cause harm to live oaks by growing to a point where it blocks the sunlight from reaching the tree's leaves.
Image 1- Live Oak with Spanish Moss
The image above was taken on January 19th by the Intracoastal near Wrightsville Beach. The image is of a southern live oak tree (Quercus virginiana) with Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) hanging from its limbs. Spanish moss is common in tropical and subtropical climates growing on larger trees, such as the southern live oak, and is most popular in the southeastern and southwestern United States. Spanish moss is considered an epiphyte-- a plant that lives on a fellow plant but does not cause harm to its host. Because Spanish moss benefits from living on live oaks, but live oaks neither benefit nor are harmed, they interact in a relationship called commensalism. On occasion though, Spanish moss can cause harm to live oaks by growing to a point where it blocks the sunlight from reaching the tree's leaves.