Summary ²

Ball moss is a small, tufted epiphyte that is not a moss, but a member of the Bromeliad family. It is gray-green with scaly, recurved, linear leaves 2-6 in. long. In autumn, it produces 6 in. erect spikes with one to seven funnel-shaped, half in. long flowers with pale blue or violet petals and gray-scaly bracts at their bases. It grows in clumps 6-10 in. in diameter on most kinds of trees. The wind transports tiny seeds until they land on a tree branch. They stick fast and develop root-like attachments to the outside of the bark. Although this air plant develops root structures that may penetrate the outer bark, which is dead tissue, they do not parasitize trees; they simply use them for support. Ball moss can convert nitrogen in air into a form that plants can use like fertilizer. So, when ball moss falls to the ground and decomposes, it provides a little more fertilizer for other plants.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) t_kok, all rights reserved
2. (c) t_kok, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Atlas of Living Australia
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Catalogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia
• eFloras.org
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• World Flora Online

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