There is a peculiar growth on the live oak trees here.
I first noticed it several years ago in another San Antonio R V park,
and assumed it was some kind of parasite.
The clump below is about the size of a baseball.
If you click on the photo you may be able to see the small branch the moss was
attached to. Look at 2:00.
Turns out the moss isn't living off the tree at all, but absorbing moisture and nutrients from the air.
Some of the trees are loaded with the moss, looking like proof of an alien invasion.
When winds pick up like they have here the last week, the balls of moss break the twigs they're
attached to and the odd little plants fall to the ground.
These things seem kind of familiar to me.
I think they may have been sold in the mid-70s, stuffed in to sea shells.
If anyone else remembers something like this, leave a comment.
Kaye: They still sell them in shells and things. I saw some not long ago. It looked like the moss was hot glued on though so I'm wondering if it could live there long! You have such great access to the raw materials maybe you could go into business. Set up a little roadside display maybe? Make a little extra diesel money? Just a thought.
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