Dictionary entry

Tillandsia

Webster's Dictionary 1913

‖Til‐land″si‐a (?), n. [NL. So named after Prof. Tillands, of Abo, in Finland.] (Bot.) A genus of epiphytic endogenous plants found in the Southern United States and in tropical America. Tillandsia usneoides, called long moss, black moss, Spanish moss, and Florida moss, has a very slender pendulous branching stem, and forms great hanging tufts on the branches of trees. It is often used for stuffing mattresses.