Tillandsia usneoides is the Tillandsia that looks like Usnea, (Usnea trichodea). Tillandsia usneoides, Spanish Moss, occurs from the southeastern US to Chile and Argentina.
Usnea occurs on oak trees in California, and probably elsewhere, and is commonly called Old Man's Beard.From a distance they look alike but Usnea is a lichen, a symbiotic combination of an alga and a fungus.
In the picture above, Usnea is on the left.
