What kind of plant is Spanish moss?

Hello, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Epiphytes are plants that live without having roots in the soil; they live in trees or sometimes on man-made structures like fences! The most visible epiphyte for us in South Carolina is Spanish moss, but you’ll have to go below Columbia to see it as it doesn’t like temperatures much below freezing, and unlike us prefers high humidity! About ninety percent of epiphytes are flowering plants, orchids are the ones that first come to mind but there are bromeliads that aren’t sold in the trade that are even more spectacular. If you look up air plants - Big Cypress National Preserve – you’ll be amazed at the different forms of life that use the epiphytes growing there, from insects, to frogs, to snakes and hawks; they are mini ecosystems hanging in the air.