Selaginella

Selaginella kraussiana, from here.

Belongs within: Isoetophyta.

Selaginella, the spike-mosses, is a genus of superficially moss-like plants found most abundantly in tropical and subtropical regions. The majority (but not all) of species in this genus possess structures called rhizophores, aerial leafless shoots that grow downwards, bearing adventitious roots.

Characters (from I. A. Valdespino): Plants terrestrial, on rock, or rarely hemiepiphytic (initially terrestrial, becoming epiphytic) or epiphytic. Stems prostrate, creeping, decumbent, cespitose, climbing, or fully erect, articulate or not, slightly to greatly branched. Rhizophores usually present, stout or filiform. Roots branching several times dichotomously from rhizophore tips. Leaves on aerial stems dimorphic or monomorphic; if monomorphic, then linear to narrowly lanceolate, highly overlapping, spirally arranged; if leaves on aerial stem dimorphic, then round or oblong to lanceolate, arranged in 4 ranks, 2 ranks of larger spreading lateral leaves and 2 ranks of smaller, appressed, and ascending median leaves, often with axillary leaf at base of each branching dichotomy. Megasporangia lobed to ovoid; microsporangia reniform to ovoid. Megaspores tetrahedral, ovoid, or globose, variously sculptured, (127-)200-1360 µm diameter; microspores tetrahedral, variously sculptured, 20-75 µm diameter. x = 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

<==Selaginella [Selaginellaceae, Selaginellales]
    |--S. apoda (Linnaeus) Spring 1840 CD07
    |--S. arenicola SL05
    |--S. argentea K03
    |--S. arthritica MM96
    |--S. bisulcata Spring 1850 I88
    |--S. bryopteris (Linnaeus) Baker 1884 [=Lycopodium bryopteris Linnaeus 1753] I88
    |--S. chrysocaulos (Hooker & Greville) Spring 1843 [=Lycopodium chrysocaulos Hooker & Greville in Hooker 1831] I88
    |--S. chrysorrhizos Spring 1850 I88
    |--S. ciliaris (Retzius) Spring 1843 [=Lycopodium ciliare Retzius 1789] I88
    |--S. convoluta L54
    |--S. delicatula (Desvaux) Alston 1932 [=Lycopodium delicatulum Desvaux in de Lamarck 1814] I88
    |--S. denticulata (Linnaeus) Link 1841 PL04
    |--S. eurynota MM96
    |--S. fulcrata (Hamilton) Spring 1850 [=Lycopodium fulcratum Hamilton in Don 1825] I88
    |--S. gracillima GK00
    |--S. involvens (Swartz) Spring 1843 (see below for synonymy) I88
    |--S. kraussiana SL05
    |--S. kurzii Baker 1885 I88
    |--S. leonardii J87
    |--S. monospora Spring 1850 I88
    |--S. pallida (Hooker & Greville) Spring 1843 (see below for synonymy) I88
    |--S. pallidissima Spring 1843 I88
    |--S. pennata (Don) Spring 1850 [=Lycopodium pennatum Don 1825] I88
    |--S. picta I88
    |    |--S. p. var. picta I88
    |    `--S. p. var. viridis I88
    |--S. plumieri J87
    |--S. repanda (Desvaux) Spring in Gaud. 1846 (see below for synonymy) I88
    |--S. sanguinolenta (Linnaeus) Spring 1843 [=Lycopodium sanguinolentum Linnaeus 1753] I88
    |    |--S. s. f. sanguinolenta I88
    |    `--S. s. f. aitchisonii I88
    |--S. selaginoides WP05
    |--S. subdiaphana (Wallich) Spring 1843 [=Lycopodium subdiaphanum Wallich ex Hooker & Greville in Hooker 1831] I88
    |--S. tenuifolia Spring 1850 I88
    `--S. vaginata Spring 1850 I88

Selaginella involvens (Swartz) Spring 1843 [=Lycopodium involvens Swartz 1806; incl. L. caulescens Wallich ex Hooker & Greville 1831, Selaginella caulescens (Wallich) Spring 1843] I88

Selaginella pallida (Hooker & Greville) Spring 1843 [=Lycopodium pallidum Hooker & Greville in Hooker 1831 non Beyrich ex Gaud. 1826; incl. S. nepalensis Spring 1843, L. tenellum Don 1825] I88

Selaginella repanda (Desvaux) Spring in Gaud. 1846 [=Lycopodium repandum Desvaux in de Lamarck 1814; incl. S. plumosa var. hamiltonii Baker 1883] I88

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[CD07] Cantino, P. D., J. A. Doyle, S. W. Graham, W. S. Judd, R. G. Olmstead, D. E. Soltis, P. S. Soltis & M. J. Donoghue. 2007. Towards a phylogenetic nomenclature of Tracheophyta. Taxon 56 (3): E1-E44.

[GK00] Gibson, N., & G. J. Keighery. 2000. Flora and vegetation of the Byenup-Muir reserve system, south-west Western Australia. CALMScience 3 (3): 323-402.

[I88] Iwatsuki, K. 1988. An enumeration of the pteridophytes of Nepal. In The Himalayan Plants vol. 1 (H. Ohba & S. B. Malla, eds) The University Museum, University of Tokyo, Bulletin 31: 231-339.

[J87] Judd, W. S. 1987. Floristic study of Morne La Visite and Pic Macaya National Parks, Haiti. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum – Biological Sciences 32 (1): 1-136.

[K03] Kulip, J. 2003. An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal and other useful plants of Muruts in Sabah, Malaysia. Telopea 10 (1): 81-98.

[L54] Lötschert, W. 1954. Beitrag zur Pteridophyten-Flora von Mittel-Amerika. Senckenbergiana Biologica 35 (1-2): 109-119.

[MM96] Mound, L. A., & R. Marullo. 1996. The thrips of Central and South America: an introduction (Insecta: Thysanoptera). Memoirs on Entomology, International 6: 1-487.

[PL04] Pohl, G., & I. Lenski. 2004. Zur Verbreitung und Vergesellschaftung von Pennisetum orientale Rich. in Nordeuböa (Griechenland) (Poaceae, Paniceae). Senckenbergiana Biologica 83 (2): 209-223.

[SL05] Small, R. L., E. B. Lickey, J. Shaw & W. D. Hauk. 2005. Amplification of noncoding chloroplast DNA for phylogenetic studies in lycophytes and monilophytes with a comparative example of relative phylogenetic utility from Ophioglossaceae. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 36: 509-522.

[WP05] Wikström, N., & K. M. Pryer. 2005. Incongruence between primary sequence data and the distribution of a mitochondrial atp1 group II intron among ferns and horsetails. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 36: 484-493.