Spanish moss

Spanish moss
Moss Moss (m[o^]s; 115), n. [OE. mos; akin to AS. me['o]s, D. mos, G. moos, OHG. mos, mios, Icel. mosi, Dan. mos, Sw. mossa, Russ. mokh', L. muscus. Cf. {Muscoid}.] 1. (Bot.) A cryptogamous plant of a cellular structure, with distinct stem and simple leaves. The fruit is a small capsule usually opening by an apical lid, and so discharging the spores. There are many species, collectively termed Musci, growing on the earth, on rocks, and trunks of trees, etc., and a few in running water. [1913 Webster]

Note: The term moss is also popularly applied to many other small cryptogamic plants, particularly lichens, species of which are called tree moss, rock moss, coral moss, etc. Fir moss and club moss are of the genus {Lycopodium}. See {Club moss}, under {Club}, and {Lycopodium}. [1913 Webster]

2. A bog; a morass; a place containing peat; as, the mosses of the Scottish border. [1913 Webster]

Note: Moss is used with participles in the composition of words which need no special explanation; as, moss-capped, moss-clad, moss-covered, moss-grown, etc. [1913 Webster]

{Black moss}. See under {Black}, and {Tillandsia}.

{Bog moss}. See {Sphagnum}.

{Feather moss}, any moss branched in a feathery manner, esp. several species of the genus {Hypnum}.

{Florida moss}, {Long moss}, or {Spanish moss}. See {Tillandsia}.

{Iceland moss}, a lichen. See {Iceland Moss}.

{Irish moss}, a seaweed. See {Carrageen}.

{Moss agate} (Min.), a variety of agate, containing brown, black, or green mosslike or dendritic markings, due in part to oxide of manganese. Called also {Mocha stone}.

{Moss animal} (Zo["o]l.), a bryozoan.

{Moss berry} (Bot.), the small cranberry ({Vaccinium Oxycoccus}).

{Moss campion} (Bot.), a kind of mosslike catchfly ({Silene acaulis}), with mostly purplish flowers, found on the highest mountains of Europe and America, and within the Arctic circle.

{Moss land}, land produced accumulation of aquatic plants, forming peat bogs of more or less consistency, as the water is grained off or retained in its pores.

{Moss pink} (Bot.), a plant of the genus {Phlox} ({Phlox subulata}), growing in patches on dry rocky hills in the Middle United States, and often cultivated for its handsome flowers. --Gray.

{Moss rose} (Bot.), a variety of rose having a mosslike growth on the stalk and calyx. It is said to be derived from the Provence rose.

{Moss rush} (Bot.), a rush of the genus {Juncus} ({Juncus squarrosus}).

{Scale moss}. See {Hepatica}. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • Spanish moss — Spanish Span ish, a. Of or pertaining to Spain or the Spaniards. [1913 Webster] {Spanish bayonet} (Bot.), a liliaceous plant ({Yucca alorifolia}) with rigid spine tipped leaves. The name is also applied to other similar plants of the Southwestern …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Spanish moss — ☆ Spanish moss n. a rootless epiphytic plant (Tillandsia usneoides) of the pineapple family, often found growing in long, graceful strands from the branches of trees in the SE U.S. and tropical America …   English World dictionary

  • Spanish moss — Taxobox name = Spanish moss image width = 250px regnum = Plantae divisio = Magnoliophyta classis = Liliopsida ordo = Bromeliales familia = Bromeliaceae genus = Tillandsia species = T. usneoides binomial = Tillandsia usneoides binomial authority …   Wikipedia

  • Spanish moss — Tillandsia usneoides Tillandsia usneoides Systematik Ordnung: Süßgrasartige (Poales) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Spanish moss — kedeninė tilandsija statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Bromelijinių šeimos dekoratyvinis, vaistinis augalas (Tillandsia usneoides), paplitęs Šiaurės ir Pietų Amerikoje. atitikmenys: lot. Tillandsia usneoides angl. Florida moss; long moss;… …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

  • Spanish-moss — kedeninė tilandsija statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Bromelijinių šeimos dekoratyvinis, vaistinis augalas (Tillandsia usneoides), paplitęs Šiaurės ir Pietų Amerikoje. atitikmenys: lot. Tillandsia usneoides angl. Florida moss; long moss;… …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

  • Spanish moss — an epiphytic plant, Tillandsia usneoides, of the southern U.S., having narrow, grayish leaves and growing in long festoons that drape the branches of trees. [1815 25, Amer.] * * * Epiphyte (Tillandsia usneoides) in the pineapple family, found in… …   Universalium

  • Spanish moss — noun dense festoons of greenish grey hairlike flexuous strands anchored to tree trunks and branches by sparse wiry roots; southeastern United States and West Indies to South America • Syn: ↑old man s beard, ↑black moss, ↑long moss, ↑Tillandsia… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Spanish moss — Tillandsia Til*land si*a, n. [NL., after Prof. Tillands, of Abo, in Finland.] (Bot.) An immense genus of epiphytic bromeliaceous plants confined to tropical and subtropical America. They usually bear a rosette of narrow overlapping basal leaves,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Spanish moss — Air plant Air plant (Bot.) A plant deriving its sustenance from the air alone; an a[ e]rophyte. [1913 Webster] Note: The Florida moss ({Tillandsia}, many tropical orchids, and most mosses and lichens are air plants. Those which are lodged upon… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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