A ball moss was observed on the edge of a parking lot on the St Edward’s University. Before moving to Texas last year I had never seen these things before and started calling them moss balls, so you can imagine how tickled pink I was just now to discover I was very close to guessing their real name (although I really think whoever named these things really missed out on an awesome bad pun opportunity by not calling them moss balls).
Medicinally, ball moss is very exciting as it has shown success in cancer and AIDS treatment.
Ball moss is actually not a moss, but a flowering bromeliad. It is not a parasitic plant as it rarely affects the health of any but the most stressed trees. It is sensitive to freezing and is found as far north as Georgia. Ball moss does not always grow on trees and is even found on telephone poles and wires–wherever it can get nutrients, sunlight, and moisture.
My iNaturalist observation can be found here.