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Tillandsia usneoides

Rouru‘ina

Spanish Moss

Multimedia & Additional Resources

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Image:	Tree cloaked in Spanish Moss	68KB
Image:	Tree cloaked in Spanish Moss	89KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Spanish Moss, Hanging Moss, Long Moss, Florida Moss, Air-plant; German Louisiana-Moos

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Rouru‘ina (RR), Remu Nū [move to lichen] (MK), Tiare Rōuru [Remu Nū [for lichen] (MT)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE s.USA - Caribbean/C.America - Argentina; EXOTIC circumtropical

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; Land, lowlands, gardens

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental leaves

KEY FEATURES: A slender hanging plant to 4m. Stems and leaves very slender, grey to light green. Flowers minute yellow-green with 3 petals, ~8mmØ. Fruit brown, narrow cylinder to 30x3mm. Not a parasite. It obtains water and minerals from rain water.

Enlarged Image of 'Tillandsia usneoides'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
++++	++	++++	?	+	P	-		-

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Tillandsia usneoides Linnaeus
TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); LILIOPSIDA (=Monocotyledones); ZINGIBERIDAE; Bromeliales; BROMELIACEAE

More Information

IDENTIFICATION: A hanging, rootless epiphyte to 4m. STEMS slender, curly, wiry, to 4m. LEAVES paired, very slender, to 50x1mm, grey to light green. FLOWER solitary, axillary, yellow-green, 8mmØ, 3 petals; fragrant at night. FRUIT a capsule, narrow-cylindrical, to 30x3mm, brown. SEEDS numerous, clylindrical, to 4mm long.

GENERAL NOTE: Non-parasitic. It obtains water and nutrients from rain. During draught times it remains dormant.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.170 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.228 Tropica

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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