The gray strands hanging from these bottomland oaks are Spanish moss, which is neither Spanish nor a moss — it is a bromeliad, a relative of the pineapple, and it takes no water or nutrients from the tree it hangs on. It has no roots at all and absorbs everything it needs from rain and humid air, which is precisely why it stops around here: a few counties west the air is simply too dry to keep it alive. Its western limit runs roughly along this stretch of river bottom, so it thins out and disappears as the highway climbs away from the Colorado.
Getting there
29.7200, -96.6200
Locations are approximate and may be inaccurate, on private land, or otherwise inaccessible. Check before you travel.
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
