Enjoy the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area
440 acres adjacent to the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, University of Florida/IFAS
Shoestring fern (Vittaria lineata) is another epiphyte that grows at the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area. This primitive fern with stringy foliage is found almost exclusively growing in association with "boots" -- old leafstems -- of cabbage palms (Sabal palmetto) in…
Southern needleleaf (Tillandsia setacea) is an epiphyte that lacks a "tank" as shown on the red wild pine (Tillandsia fasciculata) in the upper left but has more structure than atmospheric epiphytes like Spanish moss and ball moss. Its knitting needle like…
Ball moss (Tillandsia recurvata) is an atmospheric epiphyte that looks like balled-up Spanish moss. Both of these absolutely rootless perennial plants can be found fastened to power lines, rocks, fences, and, of course, other plants. Ball moss can be found…
Epiphytic plants need to find a way to compensate for what they do not have -- roots that draw nutrients from the soil. Bromeliads like the green wild pine (Tillandsia utriculata) pictured above with vase-shaped shoots -- or "tanks" --…
