Selaginella apoda
Selaginella wallacei
meadow spike-moss, sélaginelle apode
Wallace's selaginella, Wallace's spike-moss
prostrate to short-creeping, sparsely branched, branches mostly simple or 1-forked, flat, not articulate, glabrous.
radially symmetric, creeping or decumbent, not readily fragmenting, irregularly forked, without budlike arrested branches, tips straight;
main stem long, indeterminate, lateral branches determinate, ascending, 1–2-forked.
delicate, papery.
monomorphic, in ± alternate pseudowhorls of 4, tightly or loosely appressed, ascending, green, linear-lanceolate, (1.5–)1.8–3.5 × 0.39–0.66 mm;
abaxial ridges well defined;
base rounded and adnate or cuneate and slightly decurrent on fleshy, loosely appressed stem leaves (from wet places), pubescent, seldom glabrous;
margins short-ciliate to denticulate, cilia transparent, spreading at base, dentiform, and ascending toward apex, 0.03–0.06(–0.1) mm;
apex keeled and obtuse, sometimes attenuate or plane and attenuate, abruptly short- to long-bristled;
bristle transparent to whitish, puberulent, sometimes breaking off, (0.16–)0.2–0.46(–0.9) mm.
paired or solitary, lax, flattened, 1–2 cm;
sporophylls ovate to ovate-deltate, strongly keeled, keel dentate, base slightly cordate to rounded, margins with scattered teeth, apex acuminate;
megasporophylls larger and wider than microsporophylls, usually on underside of strobili.
often paired, 1–4.5(–9) cm;
sporophylls deltate-ovate (mostly on exposed and compact mats) or lanceolate-ovate (on loose, spreading mats from wet places), abaxial ridges well defined, base glabrous, margins short-ciliate to denticulate, apex keeled, abruptly short-bristled, seldom tapering into bristle.
axillary, throughout stem length or restricted to proximal 1/3 of stem, 0.05–0.1 mm diam.
borne on upperside of stems, throughout stem length, 0.23–0.36(–0.4) mm diam.
leaves distant, green, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 1.35–2.25 × 0.75–1.35 mm;
base slightly cordate;
margins green or with 1 row of transparent cells, serrate;
apex acute, ending in teeth.
leaves ovate-lanceolate, 1–1.6 × 0.45–0.7 mm;
base oblique on inner side, rounded and prominent on outer side;
margins green or with row of transparent cells, serrate;
apex straight, acuminate to long-acuminate.
Selaginella apoda
Selaginella wallacei
Selaginella apoda is the central component of a taxonomically difficult species complex of eastern North America. It is closely related to S. eclipes (see discussion) and S. ludoviciana. Naturally occurring and experimental hybrids between S. apoda and S. ludoviciana have been reported (P. Somers and W. R. Buck 1975; T. R. Webster 1990). Also, some evidence indicates that hybrids may occur between S. apoda and S. eclipes. More studies are needed in this complex.
The species in the S. apoda complex may be best classified under subg. Homostachys of J. G. Baker (1883, 1887), with which they share flattened strobili and larger sporophylls (megasporophylls) that are usually in the same plane as the vegetative lateral leaves. They are, however, treated here with the other heterophyllous species of subg. Stachygynandrum until a reassessment of the classification of the genus Selaginella can be made.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Selaginella wallacei is extremely variable depending on its habitat (R. M. Tryon 1955). Plants in dry, exposed conditions have short stems, form compact mats with tightly appressed leaves adnate to the stem, and have a rather keeled, abruptly bristled apex. Plants from moist habitats have long stems, form rather moderately long-creeping mats, and have less appressed, decurrent, fleshy leaves, with a more plane-attenuate apex that gradually tapers into a bristle. Plants from exposed, dry conditions sometimes are confused with S. scopulorum, but they have a keeled apex with well-defined ridges on the abaxial groove whereas in S. scopulorum the leaf apex is ± plane and attenuate, and the ridges on the abaxial groove are not prominent. Plants from moist habitats somewhat resemble plants of S. underwoodii.
R. M. Tryon (1955) found strobili 9 cm long in Selaginella wallacei, the longest strobili known within subg. Tetragonostachys and comparable only to those of S. oregana.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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