Tillandsia recurvata

Tillandsia recurvata subsp. var.	Ball moss
	Habit: bromeliad Height: ⇕ to Width: ⇔ to 4in 2.5in8in Height: ⇕ warning.png"" cannot be used as a page name in this wiki. to 4 in Width: ⇔ 2.5 in to 8 in Lifespan: ⌛ perennial Origin: ✈ Poisonous: ☠ Bloom: ❀ early summer, mid summer, late summer	Exposure: ☼ part-sun Water: ◍ Features: ✓ flowers, houseplant Hidden fields, interally pass variables to right place Minimum Temp: ☃ °Fwarning.png"°F" is not a number. USDA Zones: 11 to 12 Sunset Zones: Flower features: ❀ blue, purple
	Bromeliaceae > Tillandsia recurvata var. ,

Tillandsia recurvata, commonly known as Ball Moss, is a flowering plant (not a true moss) that grows upon larger host plants. It grows well in areas with low light, little airflow, and high humidity, which is commonly provided by southern shade trees, often the Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana). It is not a parasite like mistletoe, but an epiphyte like its relative Spanish moss. It derives only physical support and not nutrition from its host, photosynthesizing its own food, receiving water vapor from the air, and obtaining nitrogen from bacteria. Although Ball Moss can hinder tree growth by competing for sunlight and some nutrients, it usually does not affect healthy specimens. It tends to form a spheroid shape ranging in size from a golf ball to a soccer ball. Local spread of Ball Moss occurs by windblown seed. Ball Moss is sensitive to freezing, particularly when moist.

Ball Moss can be found in the Americas, from the southern United States (Florida to Arizona) south to Argentina and Chile.

Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Tillandsia recurvata, Linn. (T. Bartramii, Ell., at least in part). A few inches high, tufted, with scurfy terete or filiform recurved 2-ranked lvs.: fls. 1-5 on spike that is sheathed at the base but naked above, the corolla blue and exceeding the calyx. Fla. to Argentina and Chile. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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Gallery

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

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• Tillandsia recurvata QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)