Palhinhaea cernua |
|
---|---|
nodding club-moss |
|
Roots | clustered at soil contacts of horizontal stem, 5–30 × 0.4–0.6 cm. |
Horizontal stems | with leaves remote, linear-needlelike, recurved at base, upcurved at apex, 2.9–3.1 × 0.1–0.15 mm. |
Upright shoots | to 45 × 3.5 mm, gradually diminishing and branched successively 3 times, 3–12 cm from base to form complex treelike habit. |
Lateral branchlets | spreading-ascending, drooping at tips, 0.2–0.4 mm wide, leaves needlelike, recurved basally, upcurved apically, 2–2.5 × 0.1–0.2 mm, leaves and stems sometimes hairy near strobili. |
Strobili | nodding at 60–80° to subtending vegetative branch, 0.4–0.8 × 0.15–0.2 cm. |
Sporophylls | trowel-shaped, 1.5–2 × 0.7–0.8 mm, margins fringed, teeth to 0.2 mm, mostly branched. |
Palhinhaea cernua |
|
Habitat | Wet depressions and ditches in pinelands, road banks |
Elevation | 0–100 m (0–300 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; SC |
Discussion | Palhinhaea cernua is a showy plant. This is probably the world's most abundant club-moss. The species overwinters as buried stem tips, the rest of the plant dying. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 2. |
Parent taxa | Lycopodiaceae > Palhinhaea |
Synonyms | Lycopodium cernuum |
Name authority | (Linnaeus) Vasconcellos & Franco: Bol. Soc. Brot. ser. 2, 41: 25. (1967) |
Web links |