The gray tangles hanging from the limbs of live oaks like clumps of unraveled knitting is Spanish moss. This is not really a moss – which has no flowers – but a member of the same tropical plant family as the pineapple. Not only does Spanish moss add to the visual excitement of the forest as it hangs still and dark in the dim canopy of leaves or moves with the breeze as the rustle of wind enters the wood, it is one of the most ecologically valuable plants in the live oak forest.The plant is a thin, curly stem a foot or so long. At intervals along the stem are pointed leaves an inch to two inches in length. Tiny, furry scales coat the entire plant and give it its grey-green color. In early summer, a small yellow flower grows in the axis of the leaves. Later, this flower produces feathery seeds that drift in the wind to other suitable growing sites. A tangle of stems and leaves can hang 10 or 123 feet below a live oak limb.Spanish moss is commonly thought to be a parasite, living off live oak or other trees where it is found. This is far from the case. Spanish moss is what is called an “air plant,” or an epiphyte, which means it is attached to other plants but not parasitic upon them. In the overlapping bases of its leaves, the Spanish moss collects dust from the air as well as water dripping from limbs above. From these things, it takes its nutrients. The stems and leaves of the plant are as matted and hard to untangle as the backlash of a fishing line. That mesh, which feels like a Brillo pad, holds nutrients that come down in rain and lets them drip slowly into the tree roots. The plant cuts down on the amount of light that reaches the forest floor, which adds to the dark humid atmosphere beneath a live oak forest. This, in turn, reduces the vegetation on the forest floor.At least three species of songbirds: the parula, the yellow-throated warbler and the painted bunting make their nests in the moss. Many other birds build nests from the moss. At least two species of bats use Spanish moss as roosting sites. In addition, it provides a home for many kinds of insets important in the food chain. At times, the moss has been utilized as mulch on garden soil and as a stuffing in upholstery. All in all, Spanish moss is perhaps the second most important plant in the live oak forest after the live oak itself.

The saga of Georgia’s sea turtles plays out every summer on the beaches of Jekyll Island and other Georgia barrier islands. It is a tale of struggle and survival that goes back for millions and millions of years, and it is told daily on Jekyll Island by the caring volunteers who head the Sea Turtle Project. The Jekyll Island Sea Turtle Project, a program of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, marks and monitors sea turtle nests and offers nightly interpretive walks from early June through mid-August to introduce visitors to the revered sea turtle.

Led by a trained sea turtle technician, the nighttime turtle walks are held twice a night just after dusk, to patrol the beaches for nesting loggerheads. After a brief orientation, visitors are led to the edge of the ocean where they can learn about sea turtles and the importance of Georgia’s coast as a habitat and nesting ground. If they are fortunate enough and the night skies are lit brightly enough, they may see a part of pre-history come alive as the mother loggerhead emerges from the ocean and lumbers up the beach to prepare her nest and lay her eggs. From a safe distance, participants view the fascinating pageant of life as 80-120 eggs are deposited in the nest. Every year, approximately 100 loggerhead nests are documented on Jekyll Island.

Reservations are required and can be made through the Jekyll Island History Center at 912-635-4036; registration for adults is $10 and $5 for children 12 and under. Tours are offered at 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm.

Kudzu. The word evokes frustration from those plagued by it, jokes from those who aren’t and respect from those who understand its power. For, make no mistake about it, kudzu is powerful. Its leafy vines, called runners, can grow more than 12 inches in a single day, or between 50 and 100 feet in a typical growing season. When the vines touch the ground, they form nodes, which become crowns once they send out roots. Roots radiate from the kudzu crown in all directions and drill as deep as 20 feet into the ground for water and nutrients. On these roots, potato-like tubers store carbohydrates. A single tuber may weigh as much as 300 pounds. Try to imagine a 300-pound potato, growing beneath the ground and sending up new growth, to get some idea of kudzu’s power. Scientists estimate there may be as many as 10,000 roots per acre of kudzu. As a member of the hard-working bean family, kudzu extracts nitrogen from the air and increases soil fertility by imparting the nitrogen to the soil. Few other plants have this ability; most plants feed on nitrogen in the soil.

First introduced in the United States at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, kudzu was initially cultivated as a shade plant on porches and arbors. Later, in the 1930s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture imported kudzu to control soil erosion. Problems with out-of-control kudzu growth began in the late 1940s. In its native land of Asia, kudzu had biological controls that kept it in check. In the southeastern United States, however, there were no controls on its growth, and it apparently grew much faster. So fast that it inspired Georgian bard James Dickey to write:

“In Georgia, the legend says
That you must close your windows
At night to keep it out of the house.
The glass is tinged with green, even so….”

Today, Americans are learning more about the edible and medicinal uses of kudzu. For 2,000 years, Asians have used kudzu roots for cooking and for making medicinal teas to treat dysentery and fever. Starch made from the roots, called kuzu, can be used in place of other starches to create sauces, soups, puddings and pie fillings. Says Annemarie Colbin in her book Food and Healing:

“Kuzu is similar to arrowroot or cornstarch in that it must be dissolved in cold liquid and the mixture stirred while it heats, thickening as it reaches the boiling point. It has an alkalizing effect. One tablespoon kuzu starch will thicken 1 cup liquid to the consistency of Chinese vegetable sauce; 2 1/2 tablespoons kuzu to 1 cup liquid makes pudding, which when cool is the consistency of soft tofu. As a remedy, kuzu can be used in two ways: shoyu-kuzu (salty, runny, like a thick broth) and apple juice-kuzu (thick and sweet like a pudding).” Colbin recommends kuzu mixes to relieve stress and for sore throats, ear aches and other ailments.

In The Kudzu Cookbook, Carole Marsh has such recipes as Homemade Kudzu Noodles, Kudzu Gumbo and Kudzu Quiche. When deep frying kudzu leaves, Marsh says to “pick the tender, young leaves and avoid the older leaves and shoots which are very fibrous.”

The saga of Georgia’s sea turtles plays out every summer on the beaches of Jekyll Island and other Georgia barrier islands. It is a tale of struggle and survival that goes back for millions and millions of years, and it is told daily on Jekyll Island by the caring volunteers who head the Sea Turtle Project. The Jekyll Island Sea Turtle Project, a program of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, marks and monitors sea turtle nests and offers nightly interpretive walks from early June through mid-August to introduce visitors to the revered sea turtle.

Led by a trained sea turtle technician, the nighttime turtle walks are held twice a night just after dusk, to patrol the beaches for nesting loggerheads. After a brief orientation, visitors are led to the edge of the ocean where they can learn about sea turtles and the importance of Georgia’s coast as a habitat and nesting ground. If they are fortunate enough and the night skies are lit brightly enough, they may see a part of pre-history come alive as the mother loggerhead emerges from the ocean and lumbers up the beach to prepare her nest and lay her eggs. From a safe distance, participants view the fascinating pageant of life as 80-120 eggs are deposited in the nest. Every year, approximately 100 loggerhead nests are documented on Jekyll Island.

Reservations are required and can be made through the Jekyll Island History Center at 912-635-4036; registration for adults is $10 and $5 for children 12 and under. Tours are offered at 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm.