Flora of North America species comparison

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Selaginella eclipes

buck's meadow spike-moss, hidden spike-moss
Habit Plants terrestrial, forming loose to dense mats.
Stems

short-creeping, branched, branches 1–2-forked, flat, not articulate, glabrous.
Leaves

papery, delicate.
Strobili

solitary or paired, lax, flattened, 1–4 cm;

sporophylls ovate to ovate-deltate, strongly keeled, keel dentate, base glabrous, slightly cordate to rounded, margins serrate, apex acuminate;

megasporophylls larger and wider than microsporophylls, usually on underside of strobili.
Rhizophores

throughout stem length, 0.06–0.1 mm diam.
Lateral

leaves nearly perpendicular to stem, green, ovate to ovate-elliptic, 1–2 × 0.5–1.3 mm;

base rounded to slightly subcordate;

margins slightly transparent, serrate;

apex acute.
Median

leaves ovate to ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, 1–1.8 × 0.4–0.8 mm;

base rounded to oblique;

margins green, serrate;

apex abruptly tapered, long-acuminate to bristled, frequently transparent, midrib extending into apex.

Selaginella eclipes
Habitat Moist to wet, calcareous habitats, swamps, meadows, pastures, open woods, or rarely on rock
Elevation 0–100 m (0–300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; IA; IL; IN; MI; MO; NY; OK; WI; ON; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Selaginella eclipes, a member of the S. apoda complex, may prove to be better treated as a subspecies of S. apoda (W. R. Buck 1977). It is recognized here at the specific level to highlight the problems within this species complex. Further research is needed to elucidate the relationships among the species of the complex.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 2.
Parent taxa Selaginellaceae > Selaginella > subg. Stachygynandrum
Sibling taxa
S. acanthonota, S. apoda, S. arenicola, S. arizonica, S. asprella, S. bigelovii, S. braunii, S. cinerascens, S. densa, S. douglasii, S. eatonii, S. eremophila, S. hansenii, S. kraussiana, S. lepidophylla, S. leucobryoides, S. ludoviciana, S. mutica, S. oregana, S. peruviana, S. pilifera, S. rupestris, S. rupincola, S. scopulorum, S. selaginoides, S. sibirica, S. standleyi, S. tortipila, S. uncinata, S. underwoodii, S. utahensis, S. viridissima, S. wallacei, S. watsonii, S. weatherbiana, S. willdenowii, S. wrightii, S. ×neomexicana
Name authority W. R. Buck: Canad. J. Bot. 55: 366. (1977)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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