Queen palms, pygmy dates, true dates, canary island dates, mexican fan palm, californjia fan palm, oranges, tangerines, kumquats, feijoa, several types of bananas, grapefruit, lime, meyer lemon, rio grande cherry, kiwi, passionfruit vines, large trunked philodendrons, all here on the Georgia coast, and some but not all, I have seen scattered around S. Georgia from Dublin to Waycross to Bainbridge.

Come on guys, give ray/mike/matt ahand. I know I am not the only one with my eyes open in the 2/3 of this Great State that is South Georgia!

Thanks Wilmington ;) I can remember seeing some fairly large Dioscorea that looked naturalized in the woods off one of the Brunswick exits. Philodendron bippenatifidum (some really huge ones) all over St. Simons island, and those awesome Oleanders that looked like they have gone wild all along I-95, (except some look like they have been cleared for road widenings.)
Wilmington or others..I know Georgia has around 5-6 species of Tillandsia, all but the common Spanish Moss are rare in the state, but have you encountered any on trees around the southern portion of the state? I was hoping to get some specific site locations so I can see , perhaps collect (ones that arent endangered), for myself.
Michael M.

Wish I could help you Mike, but I am ignorant to all ( sight and knowledge thereof) of any of the above mentioned except of course the philos and oleanders. I din't even know what a tillandsia was, but boy do I know Spanish moss! I hunt a fair bit ( @6-10 times a year), so if you'll tell me what to look for, I will. My hunting club is where Bryan/Effingham/Bulloch counties all come together not far from the Ogeechee.

Wilmington, Tillandsia is a genus in the Bromeliad family. Most live in Central and South America, but several species range into the Southern USA (like the ubiquitos Spanish Moss). I am bad with species names but I think there are at least 5 in Georgia, from what I have read. The common "Ball Moss" you see on trees in Florida is one of them, also the Giant Wild Pine supposedly ranges into Georgia. They are "Air Plants" Growing epiphytically along with resurrection fern, Encyclia Orchids, and Mistletoe on the limbs of trees. Im sure you have seen the little "air plants" used as magnets and such. Well, those are Tillandsia. There is also one Tillandsia that supposedley been introduced into Georgia, though I cant recall species names now. Thanks! Michael M.

Hey Michael,
Valdosta State University's main campus has a tropical look. Here's a link to a picture from in front of West Hall.
http://services.valdosta.edu/plantops/landscape/sabalpalm.jpg
What moss do you have and which ones are you wanting to collect? I gather the mistletoe every year for the holidays. I pretty much take the presence of any of the others for granted. I'll have to take a better look.

Hey, well Spanish Moss is fairly common all the way up to near Augusta. Its the smaller species of Tillandsia (Ball Moss, cant remember the species name) that is harder to find, at least in Georgia. it gets more common once you hit central Florida though. Actually the "moss" is not really moss but a species of bromeliad, relatives to the pineapple. Thanks, Michael M.

Ball moss is hard to find? Wow. It crops up like a weed here in Austin. People spray the little clumps with detergent to kill them; landscapers offer removal services for taller trees.

The cedar elms in my front yard have a bunch of them. How many would you like?

:)

P.S. Not easy to see, especially this time of year, but true ginger-the kind you cook with-grows just fine in my yard. It has overwintered for a few years with mulch.

There is a Ficus elastica (Rubber tree) growing beside a commercial building in Kingsland Ga. that gets fairly tall, especially after winters where it doesnt get zapped back to the ground.