Hello, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Apparently, some people think Spanish moss hurts their trees or don’t like the way it looks and pay companies to remove it – it probably will come back since it’s a flowering plant and the seeds get blown all over. In times past, many Southerners made a living collecting Spanish moss and selling it! It was cured, which means the grayish cells protecting the black hair-like interior were removed. I’ve slept on a mattress filled with Spanish moss which was noticeably cooler in the summer. Henry Ford used it in for car seats in automobiles. In World War II, almost the entire crop was used in car seats for the military. Now it is mostly sold in craft stores. I keep some in a dead dogwood tree at home to use in flower arrangements.
The industry of Spanish moss

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