Selaginella selaginoides is a non-flowering plant of the spikemossgenusSelaginella with a wide distribution around the Northern Hemisphere. It resembles a moss in appearance but is a vascular plant belonging to the divisionLycopodiophyta. It has a number of common names including lesser clubmoss,[1]club spikemoss,[2]northern spikemoss, low spikemoss and prickly mountain-moss. This plant has one close relative, Selaginella deflexa, native to Hawaii. These two plants form a small clade that is sister to all other Selaginella species.
It is a small, delicate, low-growing plant. Its perennial sterile stems are short, slender and irregularly branched reaching up to 15cm in length. They creep along the ground but usually turn upwards near the tip. They have small, pointed, triangular leaves about 1–2mm long, each bearing a ligule on its upper surface near the base.[3]:7
The plant also produces annual fertile shoots. They are more robust than the sterile stems and stand erect. They are usually 3–6cm tall and 4–6mm across but can grow to 10cm when conditions are favourable. Their leaves are slightly longer than those of the sterile stems and are spirally arranged around the stem, pointing upwards.
The fertile shoots bear stout, yellowish cones which are only slightly differentiated from the branch. The cones usually bear two kinds of sporangia: lobed megasporangia in the lower part of the cone which produce megaspores and simple microsporangia in the upper part which produce many tiny microspores.
It is found in damp places with neutral to alkaline soils, most often in mountainous areas. It inhabits bogs, the shores of streams and lakes, wet cliffs and ledges, grassland and dune slacks. It is a poor competitor which does not grow in areas with tall, dense vegetation. In North America it mainly grows from 600 to 2900 m above sea-level, occasionally reaching 3800 m. In Britain it has been recorded from sea-level to 1170 m.[5]
The species is not considered to be globally threatened but has declined in some areas due to drainage and habitat destruction. In Britain and Ireland it had mostly disappeared from lowland areas by 1930, and there is some evidence of range contraction in the uplands as well.[5] The loss of rich fens due to ditch drainage and turning meadows into fields or lawns has caused habitat to disappear in Southern Finland.[6]
↑ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Selaginella selaginoides". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
↑ Stace, C. A. (2010). New Flora of the British Isles (Thirded.). Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. ISBN9780521707725.
Selaginella is the sole genus in the family Selaginellaceae, the spikemosses or lesser clubmosses, a kind of vascular plant.
Lycopodium clavatum is the most widespread species in the genus Lycopodium in the clubmoss family.
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.
Spinulum annotinum, synonym Lycopodium annotinum, known as interrupted club-moss, or stiff clubmoss, is a species of clubmoss native to forests of the colder parts of North America, as well as Asia, and most of Europe. It is an evergreen perennial pteridophyte. The genus Spinulum is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, but not in other classifications, which submerge the genus in Lycopodium.
Equisetum variegatum, commonly known as variegated horsetail or variegated scouring rush, is a species of vascular plant in the horsetail family Equisetaceae. It is native to the Northern Hemisphere where it has a circumpolar distribution.
Asplenium trichomanes, the maidenhair spleenwort, is a small fern in the spleenwort genus Asplenium. It is a widespread and common species, occurring almost worldwide in a variety of rocky habitats. It is a variable fern with several subspecies.
Botrychium lunaria is a species of fern in the family Ophioglossaceae known by the common name moonwort or common moonwort. It is the most widely distributed moonwort, growing throughout the Northern Hemisphere across Eurasia and from Alaska to Greenland, as well as temperate parts of the Southern Hemisphere.
Anogramma leptophylla, sometimes called Jersey fern, is a species of fern in the family Pteridaceae. It is found worldwide in temperate and subtropical regions. A rarity in the Pteridophyta, it is a fern whose sporophyte tends to have an annual life cycle. The gametophytes of this species have the ability to become dormant and wait as much as two and a half years until conditions are appropriate for the sporophyte stage of the life-cycle.
Selaginella kraussiana is a species of vascular plant in the family Selaginellaceae. It is referred to by the common names Krauss' spikemoss, Krauss's clubmoss, or African clubmoss, and is found naturally in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa and in Macaronesia. It is sometimes given the misnomer of “peacock fern”, due to its lacy leaf structure, despite having no relation to actual ferns; rather, it belongs to the very ancient lineage of plants known as the clubmosses.
Lycopodiella inundata is a species of club moss known by the common names inundated club moss, marsh clubmoss and northern bog club moss. It has a circumpolar and circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout the northern Northern Hemisphere from the Arctic to montane temperate regions in Eurasia and North America. It grows in wet habitat, such as bogs, ponds, moist spots on the tundra, and long-standing borrow pits.
Selaginella bigelovii is a species of spikemoss known by the common names bushy spikemoss and Bigelow's spikemoss. It is native to California and Baja California, where it grows in rocky places in many different habitat types, from the coastline to the mountains to the deserts. This lycophyte forms clumps of spreading upright to erect stems up to 20 cm long with a few short lateral branches. The linear or lance-shaped green leaves are up to 4 mm long, including the tiny rigid bristles at their tips. They are either flattened to the stem or stick out very slightly. The strobili borne at the leaf bases are yellow-orange in color.
Selaginella cinerascens is a species of spikemoss known by the common names mesa spikemoss, gray spikemoss, and ashy spikemoss. It is native to Baja California as well as some locations just north of the border in San Diego County, California. It grows in dry habitat, often on clay soil, both in open areas and in the shade of larger plants. This lycophyte forms mats of spreading, forking stems up to 18 centimeters long. The plant is often gray or brown in color, forming a dull-colored carpet on the substrate. The linear or lance-shaped leaves are 1 to 3 millimeters long and lack bristles at the tips. The leaves are green when new or moist. They are flattened to the stem or stick out just a little. The strobili borne at the leaf bases are yellow in color and no more than 4 to 5 millimeters long.
Selaginella oregana is a species of spikemoss known by the common name Oregon spikemoss. It is native to the Pacific Coast of western North America, where it can be found from British Columbia to northern California. It grows in mossy, shady coastal forests. It is often epiphytic, growing attached to tree branches, its stems hanging in sheets of green, mosslike streamers. Trees commonly occupied by the spikemoss include bigleaf maple, black cottonwood, and red alder. It also grows on the ground and on rocks in carpetlike mats. This lycophyte has creeping or hanging stems up to about 60 centimeters long, usually with forking branches. They curl as they dry. The stems are radially symmetric, with spirals of lance-shaped leaves each measuring 2 or 3 millimeters in length and tipped with a tiny, rigid bristle. The strobili containing the reproductive structures are up to 6 centimeters long and often occur in pairs.
Cryptogramma crispa, the parsley fern, is an Arctic–alpine species of fern. It produces separate sterile and fertile fronds, up to 30 cm (12 in) tall, and is a pioneer species on acidic screes.
Diphasiastrum alpinum, the alpine clubmoss, is a species of clubmoss. This plant is a glaucous scale-leaved perennial pteridophyte. The spores are produced June to September. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his Flora Lapponica, 1737, from specimens obtained in Finland.
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.
Selaginella stellata, also recognized by its common name, starry spikemoss or starry spike-moss, is a species of spikemoss of the family Selaginellaceae. It is a type of lycopod that grows naturally in Mexico and Central American countries like Guatemala and Belize and can also be found in the state of Hawaii.
Selaginella tortipila is a species of clubmoss in the family Selaginellaceae. It is referred to by the common names twistedhair spikemoss or kinky-hair spike-moss, and is a member of an early diverging group of plants. It is native to the Southeastern United States where it is found in a small area in the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont. It is found on granite or sandstone rock outcrop communities, often at high elevation.
Koenigia × fennica, known as Finnish knotweed, is a hybrid between two species of Koenigia, K. alpina and K. weyrichii, members of the family Polygonaceae, the knotweed family. It generally only known as a cultivated garden plant, but plants have been recorded a few times surviving in abandoned areas in northern Europe, especially in Finland. The cultivar 'Johanniswolke' is considered an attractive ornamental perennial plant.
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