Wish to learn about bats? Read this article to find out where they might live in the Coastal Plain of Virginia: By Kathryn Peterson Lambert Family: Bromeliaceae Spanish Moss; ‘Tree Moss;’ Florida Moss; Long-Moss; Crape-Moss; Wool Crape and Old Man’s Beard Tilandsia usneoides L., (Dendropogan usneoides Raf:; Renealmia usneoides is a native, perennial, epiphytic herb. This flowering plant has slender, wiry, long branch stems that attach themselves to trees and poles for support. This epiphyte uses silver-gray scales, a primitive vascular system to absorb water and derive nutrients from rainfall, detritus and airborne dust. Blooming in April orlate spring, the plant has fragrant, numerous, small, solitary blue-green flowers with 3 petals, 6 to 8mm long growing in the axils of the leaves. Growing well in both full sunlight and semi-shade it will not easily bloom in cultivation without careful pruning and care. The plant enjoys a relative humidity of 63% or more and plenty of rainfall but will not thrive under heavy frost conditions. The plants favorite habitat are the Virginia Live Oak, Quercus virginiana, Quercus gominata, Quercus bilcolor, Quercus Minima (the dwarf live oak) and pines, cypress, and sweet gum. The plant is used as a fodder for livestock and in flower arrangements. Growing up to 30 meters long, the plant was once used for packing material and in upholstery. The fruit appears near the end of June or late summer and will fruit until as late as December if there is no frost. The fruit capsule contains up to 12 seeds which are airborne. While some of the seeds remain in the opened capsule and germinate, other seeds behave differently because of hairs that act like a parachute covered with tiny barbs. The seeds then grab or latch onto trees while they are sailing like para-troopers through the air. The hurricane path areas of the Southern states account for the distribution of the Tilandsia usneoides in Virginia’s coastal plain. Spanish moss can be easily pruned back so that it does not damage tree limbs and can be trellis-trained as well. The plant grows laterally to form a new plant on the old branch thus growing at one end as it dies at the other end. In this manner, it can be easily pruned without any damage to tree limbs. One just needs to know where it starts and where it ends. You may be familiar with the concept of knowing if you are coming or going? Indigenous peoples of the Southeast called the plant ‘Old Man’s beard’ and used it for fire arrows and on the inside of their canoes as a safeguard plaster against leaks. Evidence of Tilandsia usenoides use has been found in 3,000 year old fire tempered pottery. The plant is host to Yellow-throated Warblers, Northern Parula, Setophaga americana which use it to build nests in wintering sites further south but use it for habitat here during the summer. They are rarely sighted as their habitat of the bogs, wet lands, Spanish moss that was once found in their migration area has been drained or replaced. The Yellow-Rumped Warbler, Setophaga coronata, eats the insects and the special jumping spider Petegrina Tillandsiae only found on Tilandsia usenoides. It is a host plant to the Gulf Fritillary, a sometime migrant butterfly to the coastal plain. The thick, matting hair-like quality of the plant provide habitat to at least three different vesper bats of the family Vespertilionidae or evening bats. A sub-order called microchiroptera (microbats) rely upon echolocation but have small noses thus they ‘shout’ through their open mouths to project their ultrasound beam. The Eastern Pipistrelle, Perimyotis subflavus, hang about 1.5 to 6.1 meters above the growth in the southwest side of trees, clinging to the inside of (green) clumps of the leaves or loose tendrils. The space below the moss is clear of other branches. The moss allows the bats to drop down to begin their flight and reduces the amount of sunlight on them while hanging. A frigid winter will induce a stuper-like coma in the small bats, and some of them survive, some of them don’t. It is similar to a form of hibernation but does not occur unless the temperature drops (as it did this winter) for a sustained length of time. While on hikes, I have seen these Pipistrelles fluttering around the Spanish Moss out at False Cape, Back Bay and other refuges where the last of their habitat exists and at first glance I had thought they were some sort of strange small bird or large butterfly. They have a fluttering insect-like flight that people will confuse with butterflies or small birds, which serves to their advantage as some people will hear the word “bat” and want to rid the area of “bats” as “all having rabies” without understanding that these are not the frightful vampire bats of legend and lore. The microbat, Lasiurus intermedius, prefer the live oak, Quercus virginiana which provides habitat to the breeding bats as individuals and as maternity colonies. The Seminole bat, Lasiurus Seminolus will also live in the scrub oak, pine and long leaf white pine, Pinus palustris, and Pond Pine, Pinus serotina that is now being reintroduced and restored to the coastal plain area. Tillandsia usneoides L. presents antibacterial principles researched since 1952, and estrogenics. The moss contains Vitamin A, Carotene, Vitamin C. Brazil and Mexico still currently use for medicinal application to abscesses, tumors and blend with fat as an ointment for other external wounds. Yields a wax that can be used for auto and furniture polish and according to rumor that I am familiar with, once the moss has been boiled and dried to rid it of insects, it makes a very fine bed to sleep in. Respectfully, Kathryn Peterson Lambert commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spanish_moss_at_the_Mcbryde_Garden_in_hawaii.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Spanish_moss_at_the_Mcbryde_Garden_in_hawaii.jpg
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 17:55:51 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015