Spanish moss

noun

1. an epiphytic plant, Tillandsia usneoides, of the southern U.S., having narrow, grayish leaves and growing in long festoons that drape the branches of trees.

Spanish moss

noun

1. an epiphytic bromeliaceous plant, Tillandsia usneoides, growing in tropical and subtropical regions as long bluish-grey strands suspended from the branches of trees

2. a tropical lichen, Usnea longissima, growing as long trailing green threads from the branches of trees

Word History and Origins

Origin of Spanish moss¹

An Americanism dating back to 1815–25

Example Sentences

Mr. Ambar does not spare us the horrifying details of each brutal mob act: As Lincoln described one scene, “dead men were seen literally dangling from the boughs of trees” like “Spanish moss.”

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High in the Andean mountains of Ecuador, Tony, a large, male spectacled bear, shelters from the midday heat beneath the shade of a century-old fig tree draped in Spanish moss.

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Spanish moss hangs low from the trees, and we have to hold it back like curtains.

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For example, in a model of the Sun’s surface, we use Spanish moss to create the dynamic texture of the Sun.

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Spanish moss hangs from branches of black cypress trees like funeral veils.

Read more on Los Angeles Times