# What is thet ball on the wire Dad.



## Tex-Shooter (Dec 17, 2009)

This post is for the ones that have never seem ball moss. Ball Moss, a close relative of Spanish Moss, is sometimes called a Air Fern. It is not a moss or a Fern at all, but a air plant. It is not a parasite like the Mistletoe that we also have here in the southwest also. It does not feed on it host or object that is attaches itself too, but can compete by absorbing nutrients and moisture from the air. It will attach its self to a tree, a shrub, a telephone or electric wire or even steel fence wire. It can become a problem in West Texas for the utility companies by covering wires and causing a lot of wind resistance. This small piece is from one of my Live Oaks. It will get as large as 6 or 8 Inches in diameter and completely cover a sick tree if you let it. This can speed up the demise of a tree that is already sick. -- Tex-Shooter


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## NoSugarRob (Jun 3, 2010)

thats a very sci-fi looking bit of plant life.


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## Henry the Hermit (Jun 2, 2010)

Those are quite rare in Panama. They don't seem to do well in humid climates. I've seen thousands of them in Ecuador, though, and as you said, they grow wherever they want, electric wires being a favorite.


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## Rayshot (Feb 1, 2010)

Henry in Panama said:


> Those are quite rare in Panama. They don't seem to do well in humid climates. I've seen thousands of them in Ecuador, though, and as you said, they grow wherever they want, electric wires being a favorite.


Never heard of this moss.


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## Tex-Shooter (Dec 17, 2009)

Yep. It does not like humidity. It shows up in the Drier areas of Texas, about 30 inches of rain a year or less. – Tex-Shooter


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## Henry the Hermit (Jun 2, 2010)

Tex-Shooter said:


> Yep. It does not like humidity. It shows up in the Drier areas of Texas, about 30 inches of rain a year or less. - Tex-Shooter


I'm fascinated by air plants, and my wife has a few in her collection. There are some that prefer humidty, and of course, those are the kind she has. One of them, which I call an Elk Horn, because that's what it looks like, has been divided several times in the 30+ years she's had it and is over two feet in diameter. The only food it gets is water and that because it is under the roof.


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## WC28 (May 23, 2011)

those little things are all over south florida never really knew that they could harm the tree though


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## Cave-dweller (Apr 11, 2011)

Strange and Fascinating!


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## pelleteer (Dec 19, 2009)

I'd never heard of it before either. That _is_ a weird, sci-fi looking piece of flora. Here some info I found: Ball Moss


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## philly (Jun 13, 2010)

I've seen them in South Carolina, I first thought they were squirrel nests. Big around as a basket ball.
Philly


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