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  Spanish Moss 91 Private George A. Remley, 22nd Iowa Volunteers, in a letter to his father from Rolla, Missouri, on Sept. 24, 1862: “There is ‘right smart’ sassafras all over the hills around here. We had tea of it once and I thought it was first rate.”5 Kate Stone,Brokenburn PlantationnearMilliken’sBend,Louisiana,on March 17, 1863: “The plums and sassafras are in full bloom and the whole yard is fragrant. We all drank sassafras tea for awhile but soon got tired of it, pretty and pink as it is.”6 Confederate sympathizer Myra Inman at Cleveland, Tennessee, on Feb. 21, 1865: “A pretty day. We went after some sassafras roots this eve.”7 Captain Jacob Ritner, 25th Iowa Infantry, in a letter to his wife from near the Black River in Mississippi, on Aug. 2, 1863: “We have a very poor place to camp—on a sharp ridge and 3/4 of a mile to water. However our tent happened to come in a pretty good place, under a sassafras tree that makes a fine shade.”8 • Sassafras, like a host of other plants wild and cultivated, was used to brew an alcoholic drink during the war. “A cheap and wholesome beer for the use of soldiers, or as a table beer, is prepared from the sassafras, the ingredients being easily obtained. Take eight bottles of [sassafras] water, one quart of molasses, one pint of yeast, one tablespoonful of ginger, one and a half tablespoonful of cream of tartar , these ingredients being well stirred and mixed in an open vessel; after standing twenty-four hours the beer may be bottled, and used immediately .”9 S pa n i s h M o s s The name Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is a misnomer. It is not a true moss like sphagnum but rather a flowering plant in the bromeliad family closely akin to pineapples. It grows in coastal and swampy regions of the southeast and as far south as South America. Often associated with our images of southern swamps, Spanish moss grows on trees in long, draping , threadlike, gray veils where as an epiphyte it absorbs moisture and nu- 92 Flora trients from the air. The plants are not parasitic and don’t normally harm their host trees. Many types of wildlife use Spanish moss in their life cycles. Squirrels and birds use it for nest materials. Northern parula warblers (Parula americana ) build their nests almost exclusively in draping clumps of the plant. Some species of bats roost in Spanish moss and it is the sole habitat for one kind of jumping spider. Humans have used Spanish moss for centuries. Early European colonists recorded Native Americans wearing clothing made from the plant. Louisiana Acadians made a concoction of mud and Spanish moss known as bousillage for mortar and house insulation. Later an entire commercial industry developed around the harvest and processing of the plant into manufactured products. It was used for packing materials, mulch, and in saddle blankets. Thousands of tons were ginned and used to stuff mattresses until as late as 1975, when synthetic fibers replaced the natural filaments . Because Spanish moss receives all of its nutrients from the air, it is very sensitive to wind-borne pollutants such as heavy metals from exhaust fumes and pesticides. Early explorers often remarked about the dismal , dreary atmosphere associated with moss-laden swamps. It is now known that the presence of healthy Spanish moss is an indicator of good air ­quality. Most references to Spanish moss in Civil War diaries and journals are attributable to Union soldiers due to their unfamiliarity with the plant and its novelty. Soldiers from both sides were quick to utilize the plant, especially for bedding. Major James A. Connolly, 123rd Illinois Infantry, near Louisville, Georgia , Nov. 28, 1864: “we are now in the country where the ‘Spanish Moss’ begins to show itself, and General Baird tells us that we will find it still more abundant as we approach the coast. It is a parasite like the mistletoe, has a dark grayish appearance, and hangs in ringlets from the limbs, draping the trees completely, and giving them a gloomy, funereal appearance; the General says that this moss is gathered, scalded with hot water, then dried and whipped, when all this outside coating of gray flies away in dust, leaving the black, glossy curly moss used by upholsterers.”1 Captain Charles B. Haydon, 2nd Michigan Infantry, near Vicksburg, Mississippi, on June 20, 1863: “The trees are...

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