Diphasiastrum digitatum

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Diphasiastrum digitatum
Diphasiastrum digitatum 001.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Lycophytes
Class: Lycopodiopsida
Order: Lycopodiales
Family: Lycopodiaceae
Genus: Diphasiastrum
Species:
D. digitatum
Binomial name
Diphasiastrum digitatum
(Dill. ex A.Braun) Holub 1975
Synonyms [1]
  • Lycopodium digitatumDill. ex A.Braun 1848
  • Diphasium flabelliforme(Fern.) Rothm.
  • Lycopodium complanatumL. var. flabelliforme Fern.
  • Lycopodium flabelliforme(Fern.) Blanch
  • Lycopodium flabelliforme var. ambiguumVictorin

Diphasiastrum digitatum is known as groundcedar, running cedar or crowsfoot, along with other members of its genus, but the common name fan clubmoss can be used to refer to it specifically. It is the most common species of Diphasiastrum in North America. It is a type of plant known as a clubmoss, which is within one of the three main divisions of living vascular plants. It was formerly included in the superspecies Diphasiastrum complanatum . For many years, this species was known as Lycopodium flabelliforme or Lycopodium digitatum. [2] [3]

Contents

Its common name is due to its resemblance to cedar boughs lying on the ground. Its leaves are scale-like and appressed, like a mature cedar, and it is glossy and evergreen. It normally grows to a height of about four inches (10 cm), with the spore-bearing strobili held higher. This plant was once widely harvested and sold as Christmas greenery, and populations were widely depleted for this reason. However, it has recovered throughout its range, and makes large clonal colonies, carpeting the forest floor. [4]

It prefers disturbed areas and coniferous forests, where it can form dense monocultures. The subterranean, brown gametophytes may live for years in the soil before developing vegetative shoots. Its range is in the higher Appalachian mountains northward, and its range ends in northern Georgia and Alabama, but isolated stands have sprung up elsewhere.[ not verified in body ]

In the Appalachian Mountains of Southwest Virginia, the plant is known locally as "Bear's Paw." This species was also once one of the principal clubmoss species used for collection of lycopodium powder, used as a primitive flashpowder.

Description

Diphasiastrum digitatum is a perennial vascular plant that does not contain a significant amount of wood tissue above or at the ground. They are low-growing, usually measuring less than 30 cm tall. [5] Leaves are evergreen, which appear opposite, and are arranged spirally with four evenly spaced leaves; when viewed from the side it appears as four columns. The branch leaves are green and shiny, the base extends down to the stem (decurrent) and the free portion at the tip is pointed and scale-like. Branches are shaped rectangular in cross-section, flattened on the underside with the associated leaf much smaller than the rest. The largest leaves are lateral, the free portion appressed to spreading, and the leaves on the upper surface are appressed and are more narrow. The stems spread horizontally above ground or just below the surface of the duff layer. The erect shoots each contain two or more branches near the base. Branches are more likely ascending to spreading, forked and tree-like, and mostly are arranged on the same plane, fan-like. Erect shoots can measure from 3 to 20 inches tall, although, vegetative shoots are typically less than 8 inches. Spores develop in cone-like structures referred to as strobili. About 2 to 4 strobili (rarely more) are usually clustered at the tip of a long stalk which is referred to as the peduncle.

Taxonomy

The species Diphasiastrum digitatum belongs to the kingdom Plantae. Its subkingdom is Trachaebionta, its division is Lycopodiophyta. It falls in the class Lycopoiosida, order Lycopodiales, family Lycopodiaceae and the genus is Diphasiastrum L. [6]

Distribution and habitat

Diphasiastrum digitatum is present in dry to mesic and usually acid forests and openings. They are located in the eastern part of North America, including parts of Canada such as Ontario and Quebec, and south to Florida and Louisiana. There are a variety of habitats for Diphasiastrum digitatum, but they are usually found in a partially shaded habitat that is moist to dry. Typically habitats are open forest, thickets, and fields. The sporulating season tends to be from July to October. [7] Other habitats include upland woodlands, bluffs, sandstone cliffs, and abandoned sandy fields. They tend to be found in wooded areas where oak trees and conifers can also be found. [8]

Uses

This photograph is of about half of the largest patch of groundcedar in Spalding County, GA. Groundcedar stand in Central Georgia.jpg
This photograph is of about half of the largest patch of groundcedar in Spalding County, GA.

Diphasiastrum digitatum has uses such as medicinal, pyrotechnic, and decorative purposes. Club moss spores and teas from plant leaves have been used since ancient times in both American Indian and European cultures. Medicinal uses included treating urinary tract problems, diarrhea and other digestive tract problems; relieving headaches and skin ailments; and inducing labor in pregnancy. In some cultures, the spores have been purported to be an aphrodisiac. The spores repel water and have been used as a powder on skin rashes and even on baby bottoms, and to treat wounds. Spores have been used historically as coating for pills, and in the Americas and Europe as fabric dyes. Spores are also highly flammable due to their high content of oil. They have been used culturally for ceremonial purposes when medicine men tossed the spores into a fire for a flash of light. The spores ignite with a bright flash of light and were used in flash photography, in stage productions, in fireworks and in chemistry labs. [9] It is used for mainly bladder disorders, kidney disorders and other conditions, although more evidence is needed regarding effectiveness and safety. [10]

Cultivation

Diphasiastrum digitatum is very difficult to cultivate in the garden. Transplants are rarely successful, and the development of mature plants from spores is very slow (taking perhaps 20 years). They can be grown with frequent application of weak fertilizer solution under bright light, high humidity, and year-round moderate temperatures in greenhouses, growth chambers, and laboratories. [11] During its sexual phase, this species develops underground and requires the presence of appropriate fungi. It prefers a somewhat acidic soil that is sandy or rocky, dappled sunlight to light shade, and well-drained conditions. [12]

Etymology

Diphasiastrum: From the genus Diphasium and astrum for "incomplete resemblance;" so "false Diphasium". [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lycopodiaceae</span> Family of vascular plants

The Lycopodiaceae are an old family of vascular plants, including all of the core clubmosses and firmosses, comprising 16 accepted genera and about 400 known species. This family originated about 380 million years ago in the early Devonian, though the diversity within the family has been much more recent. "Wolf foot" is another common name for this family due to the resemblance of either the roots or branch tips to a wolf's paw.

<i>Lycopodium</i> Genus of vascular plants in the family Lycopodiaceae

Lycopodium is a genus of clubmosses, also known as ground pines or creeping cedars, in the family Lycopodiaceae. Two very different circumscriptions of the genus are in use. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, Lycopodium is one of nine genera in the subfamily Lycopodioideae, and has from nine to 15 species. In other classifications, the genus is equivalent to the whole of the subfamily, since it includes all of the other genera. More than 40 species are accepted.

<i>Lycopodium clavatum</i> Species of vascular plant in the family Lycopodiaceae

Lycopodium clavatum is the most widespread species in the genus Lycopodium in the clubmoss family.

<i>Diphasiastrum</i> Genus of vascular plants in the clubmoss family Lycopodiaceae

Diphasiastrum is a genus of clubmosses in the plant family Lycopodiaceae. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, it is placed in the subfamily Lycopodioideae. It is closely related to the genus Lycopodium, and some botanists treat it within a broad view of that genus as a section, Lycopodium sect. Complanata. Some species superficially resemble diminutive gymnosperms and have been given common names such as ground-pine or ground-cedar.

<i>Lycopodiella</i> Genus of spore-bearing plants

Lycopodiella is a genus in the clubmoss family Lycopodiaceae. The genus members are commonly called bog clubmosses, describing their wetland habitat. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with centers of diversity in the tropical New World and New Guinea. In the past, the genus was often incorporated within the related genus Lycopodium, but was segregated in 1964. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, Lycopodiella is placed in the subfamily Lycopodielloideae, along with three other genera. In this circumscription, the genus has about 15 species. Other sources use a wider circumscription, in which the genus is equivalent to the Lycopodielloideae of PPG I, in which case about 40 species and hybrids are accepted.

<i>Phlegmariurus phlegmaria</i> Species of fern

Phlegmariurus phlegmaria, synonym Huperzia phlegmaria, commonly known as either coarse tassel fern or common tassel fern, is an epiphytic species native to rainforests in Madagascar, some islands in the Indian Ocean, Asia, Australasia and many Pacific Islands. Phlegmariurus phlegmaria is commonly found in moist forests and rainforests at high altitudes, in and amongst mosses and other epiphytes. Members of the order Lycopodiales are commonly referred to as clubmosses.

<i>Diphasiastrum complanatum</i> Species of clubmoss plant from coniferous forests

Diphasiastrum complanatum, common names groundcedar, creeping jenny, or northern running-pine, is a species of clubmoss native to dry coniferous forests in colder northerly parts of the world. Under the original name Lycopodium complanatum, this was an inclusive superspecies that included a number of other species now known to be biologically separate. This plant is an evergreen, perennial pteridophyte. The spores are produced June to September.

<i>Dendrolycopodium dendroideum</i> Species of spore-bearing plant

Dendrolycopodium dendroideum, synonym Lycopodium dendroideum, known as tree groundpine, is a North American species of clubmoss. It is part of a complex of species colloquially known as groundpine, which taxa were formerly lumped into the species Lycopodium obscurum. The species is native to Russia and also to the colder parts of North America. The genus Dendrolycopodium is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, but not in other classifications, which submerge the genus in Lycopodium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lycopodium powder</span> Plant material

Lycopodium powder is a yellow-tan dust-like powder, consisting of the dry spores of clubmoss plants, or various fern relatives. When it is mixed with air, the spores are highly flammable and are used to create dust explosions as theatrical special effects. The powder was traditionally used in physics experiments to demonstrate phenomena such as Brownian motion.

<i>Sceptridium dissectum</i> Species of fern

Sceptridium dissectum is a common fern in the family Ophioglossaceae, occurring in eastern North America. Like other plants in this group, it normally only sends up one frond per year. It has long been the subject of confusion because the frond presents in one of two forms, either the normal form that resembles other plants in the genus, or the skeletonized form.

<i>Dendrolycopodium obscurum</i> Species of spore-bearing plant

Dendrolycopodium obscurum, synonym Lycopodium obscurum, commonly called rare clubmoss, ground pine, or princess pine, is a North American species of clubmoss in the family Lycopodiaceae. It is a close relative of other species such as D. dendroideum and D. hickeyi, also treelike. It is native to the eastern United States and southeastern Canada from Georgia to Minnesota to Nova Scotia. It grows in the understory of temperate coniferous and deciduous forests, where it is involved in seral secondary succession, growing in clonal colonies some years after disturbance has occurred. It has also been found in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Russian Far East, and northeastern China.

<i>Diphasiastrum alpinum</i> Species of spore-bearing plant

Diphasiastrum alpinum, the alpine clubmoss, is a species of clubmoss. This plant is a glaucous scale-leaved perennial pteridophyte. In Finland, the spores are produced June to September. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his Flora Lapponica, 1737, from specimens obtained in Finland.

<i>Diphasiastrum sitchense</i> Species of spore-bearing plant

Diphasiastrum sitchense, the Sitka clubmoss, is a pteridophyte species native to northern North America and northeastern Asia. It is a terrestrial herb spreading by stolons running on the surface or the ground or just slightly below the surface. Leaves are appressed, broadly lanceolate, up to 3.2 mm long. Strobili are solitary on the ends of shoots. It is known from every province in Canada, plus the US States of Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. It is also found in Greenland, St. Pierre and Miquelon, Yukon, Japan, and the Kamchatka Peninsula of Asiatic Russia. It can be found in alpine meadows, open rocky barrens, and coniferous woodlands.

<i>Diphasiastrum tristachyum</i> Species of spore-bearing plant

Diphasiastrum tristachyum, commonly known as blue clubmoss, blue ground-cedar, ground pine, deep-rooted running-pine or ground cedar, is a North American and Eurasian species of clubmoss. In North America, it has been found from Newfoundland west to Manitoba, and south as far as Georgia and Alabama. In Eurasia, it ranges from southern Norway and Sweden south to France and Italy and it also occurs in the Caucasus.

<i>Dendrolycopodium hickeyi</i> Species of spore-bearing plant

Dendrolycopodium hickeyi known as Hickey's tree club-moss or Pennsylvania clubmoss, is a North American species of clubmoss in the family Lycopodiaceae. It is native to eastern and Central Canada and the eastern and north-central United States. The genus Dendrolycopodium is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, but not in other classifications, which submerge the genus in a larger Lycopodium.

<i>Lycopodiella alopecuroides</i> Species of spore-bearing plant

Lycopodiella alopecuroides, the foxtail clubmoss, is a species of perennial vascular plant in the club-moss family, Lycopodiaceae. It is commonly found along the Atlantic seaboard and has been recently been discovered in the state of Maine. The family, Lycopodiaceae contains nearly 15 genera and about 375 species

<i>Pseudolycopodium</i> Genus of spore-bearing plants

Pseudolycopodium is a genus of lycophyte in the family Lycopodiaceae with only one species, Pseudolycopodium densum, known as the bushy clubmoss. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, the genus is placed in the subfamily Lycopodioideae. Some sources do not recognize the genus, sinking it into Lycopodium. Pseudolycopodium densum is native to Australia, the North Island of New Zealand and New Caledonia. It is a spore-bearing vascular plant and grows up to a metre high. It is found in a wide variety of situations, often in high rainfall areas on sandy soils.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lycopodioideae</span> Subfamily of spore-bearing plants

Lycopodioideae is a subfamily in the family Lycopodiaceae in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016. It is equivalent to a broad circumscription of the genus Lycopodium in other classifications. Like all lycophytes, members of the Lycopodioideae reproduce by spores. The oldest fossils of modern members of the subfamily date to the Early Cretaceous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lycopodielloideae</span> Subfamily of plants

Lycopodielloideae is a subfamily in the family Lycopodiaceae in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016. It is equivalent to a broad circumscription of the genus Lycopodiella in other classifications. Like all lycophytes, members of the Lycopodielloideae are vascular plants that reproduce by spores.

References

  1. "Family Lycopodiaceae, genus Lycopodium; world species list". Archived from the original on 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
  2. United States Department of Agriculture Plants Profile
  3. Biota of North America Program 2014 state-level distribution map
  4. Flora of North America, Diphasiastrum digitatum (Dillenius ex A. Braun) Holub, 1975. Southern running-pine, lycopode en éventail
  5. "Growth Habits Codes and Definitions | USDA PLANTS". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  6. "Plants Profile for Lycopodium digitatum (fan clubmoss)". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  7. "Diphasiastrum digitatum (Southern Groundcedar): Minnesota Wildflowers". www.minnesotawildflowers.info. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  8. "Fan Clubmoss (Diphasiastrum digitatum)". www.illinoiswildflowers.info. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  9. "Clubmosses: An Ancient and Interesting Group of "Fern Allies" - Prince William Wildflower Society" . Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  10. "Club Moss: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Dosage, and Warning". www.webmd.com. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  11. Benca, Jeffrey P. (2014). "Home". American Fern Journal. 104: 25–48. doi:10.1640/0002-8444-104.2.25. S2CID   84087639.
  12. "Fan Clubmoss (Diphasiastrum digitatum)". www.illinoiswildflowers.info. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  13. "Online Virtual Flora of Wisconsin - Diphasiastrum digitatum". wisflora.herbarium.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-07.