Bearded Trees

Whenever we travel to Georgia to see my family, I know we're getting close when I start seeing Spanish moss in the trees. The closer we get to the coast, the more there is of it, and the happier and more at home I begin to feel. Spanish moss is in fact, not a moss at all, but an epiphytic plant, a plant that grows on another plant (in this case, trees) but which does not rely on the host plant for nutrients. Although it is not a parasite, it can cause some harm by blocking needed sunlight, weighing down and breaking branches, and in hurricanes, by creating more wind resistance and causing greater damage to the tree during storms.
Besides making the trees interesting or creepy-looking, depending on how you see it, Spanish moss has some practical uses, too. These days it is most commonly used by florists and gardeners as a mulch, for moisture control, and for decoration. It is used by crafters for making everything from birds nests to angel's hair and Christmas wreaths, and in some places, it is used as packing material. In the past, it was often used as stuffing for car seats, furniture and mattresses, and by Cajun builders in Louisiana, as insulation in houses. Wild creatures and songbirds, especially use it as nesting material. My brother and I once used it to stuff a burlap bag ( which we call a croker sack) to make a swing. We tied the neck of the stuffed bag to the end of rope attached to a high limb on a big oak at the farm. To swing on it, we ran at and jumped onto the bag like little monkeys on their mother's back. It was great, free fun for us.
Because of its similarities to gray hair, another name for Spanish moss is grey beard. In both of the legends that I know about Spanish moss, the moss originated as hair. According to the legend told on the Georgia Coast, the moss is the hair and beard of a Spaniard who bought an lovely indian maiden for a yard of braid and a piece of soap. When the maiden ran to escape her fate as wife of this evil Spaniard, she climbed a tree, the Spaniard followed her, she leapt from the tree into a creek, and when her pursuer tried to leap out of the tree after her, his hair and beard became tangled in the tree. As punishment for his intentions, the Spaniard died in the tree, which now produces this moss as a reminder.
In the South Carolina version, it is a Cuban man and his lovely long haired bride who are pursued through the woods by Cherokee indians, who kill them both and toss the woman's raven locks into the tree as a warning to other foreign invaders. According to this legend, by the next day the hair had shriveled up, turned, gray and spread to other trees. And as the Cherokee moved, the hair in the trees followed them, a constant reminder of their crime. So, you can decide which story you like best. The politically correct choice to make is the one which makes the white man the culprit and the Native American the victim. Not really a happy place for either, I think.