Florida Agricultural Experiment Station


trees but also on fences, telegraph wires and other inanimate
objects. Abundant accumulations of Spanish moss have a mark-
ed retarding effect upon the vigor and growth of the tree, which
is caused principally by the pronounced shading effect exerted
 by the masses of
 .mbss (Fig. 100).
 A number of other
 epiphytic p a n t s,
 known as bromeli-
 ads, or a ir plants
 S(Tillandsia sp.), also
 occur frequently on
 citrus trees, being at-
 tached to the bark of
 the trunks and
 branches by super-
 ficial roots. The larg-
 er of these closely
 resemble pineapple
 plants, while the
 smaller ones appear
 like miniature forms
 of the same. While
 air plants cause no
 direct injury, they
 L- retard the inter-
 change of gases
 Fig. 99.-Cassytha vine running over through the lenticels,
 orange tree. or breathing pores, of
the trunk and branches when they become abundant on the bark.
 Both Spanish moss and other air plants thrive in the moist,
humid climate of Florida but rarely prove troublesome except
in low hammock regions. In neglected groves in the more humid
situations, they may encroach upon the trees within a compara-
tively short time, especially if moss-covered live oaks occur
nearby.
 The only satisfactory method for the control of these epiphy-
tic plants is to remove them by hand. This can be done to good
advantage, especially in the case of the Spanish moss, by the use
of a moss-puller. Since Spanish moss and other epiphytic plants