Compilation
Lycopodium selaginoides

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Name

Identification
Lycopodium selaginoides L. [family LYCOPODIACEAE ] (stored under name); Verified by Not on sheet, Selaginella selaginoides (L.) Beauv. ex Schrank & Mart. [family SELAGINELLACEAE ] Verified by Not on sheet,
Related name
  • Lycopodium selaginoides
  • Selaginella spinulosa
  • Selaginella selaginoides
Common name
  • Northern spike-moss, Flora of North America Vol. 2
  • sélaginelle fausse-sélagine, Flora of North America Vol. 2
  • prickly mountain-moss, Flora of North America Vol. 2

Flora

Entry for Selaginella selaginoides (Linnaeus) Palisot de Beauvois ex Martius & Schrank [family SELAGINELLACEAE]
Herbarium
Flora of North America (FNA)
Collection
Flora of North America
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of North America, Vol 2,
Names
Selaginella selaginoides (Linnaeus) Palisot de Beauvois ex Martius & Schrank [family SELAGINELLACEAE], Hort. Reg. Monac., 1: 182. 1829
Lycopodium selaginoides Linnaeus [family LYCOPODIACEAE], Sp. Pl., 2: 1101. 1753
Treatment Author(s)
Iván A. Valdespino
Information
Plants on rock or terrestrial, forming loose to dense mats. Stems not readily fragmenting, tips not upturned; creeping stems filiform, indeterminate, branching dichotomously; upright stems stout, unbranched (3--10 cm aboveground), terminating in simple strobili. Leaves green, lanceolate, 3--4.5 X 0.75--1.2 mm (smaller on horizontal stems, 1/3 less than those on upright stems); abaxial groove absent; base decurrent, forming saclike structure with stem; margins with soft spiny projections, 0.1--0.2 mm; apex acuminate to subulate. Strobili (1--)2--3(--5) cm; sporophylls lanceolate-triangular, 4.5--6 X 1.15--1.5 mm, lacking abaxial ridges. 2 n = 18.
Distribution
GreenlandSt. Pierre and MiquelonUSA AlaskaUSA Colo.USA IdahoUSA MaineUSA Mich.USA Minn.USA Mont.USA Nev.USA N.Y.USA Wis.USA Wyo.Canada Alta.Canada B.C.Canada Man.Canada N.B.Canada Nfld.Canada N.W.T.Canada N.S.Canada Ont.Canada P.E.I.Canada Que.Canada Sask.Canada Yukon
Discussion
Selaginella selaginoides is reported to have strobili with basal megasporangia and apical microsporangia (H. T. Horner Jr. and H. J. Arnott 1963). Some individuals, however, have megasporangia at the tip of the strobili. Selaginella selaginoides is generally thought to be a primitive member of the genus (F. O. Bower 1908; T. L. Phillips and G. A. Leisman 1966; R. M. Tryon 1955), but certain of its characteristics may be derived. It is unique in having an active megaspore dispersal mechanism, termed "compression and slingshot megaspore ejection" (C. N. Page 1989), and it has a peculiar root position and development (E. E. Karrfalt 1981) probably found elsewhere only in the closely related species S . deflexa Brackenridge of Hawaii. Both features may be derived rather than primitive.

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