Selaginella hansenii
Selaginella bigelovii
Hansen's spike-moss
Bigelow's moss fern, Bigelow's spike-moss, bushy spike-moss
not readily fragmenting, prostrate, upperside and underside structurally different, irregularly forked, branches determinate, tips upturned.
radially symmetric, underground (rhizomatous) and aerial, not readily fragmenting, irregularly forked; rhizomatous and aerial stems often with 1 branch arrested, budlike, tips straight;
aerial stems erect or occasionally ascending.
with underside leaves slightly longer and narrower than upperside leaves, otherwise monomorphic, not clearly ranked, tightly appressed, ascending, green or green with red spots, or reddish, linear-lanceolate (underside) to linear-triangular (upperside), (2–)3–4.5 × 0.5–0.6 mm;
abaxial ridges present;
base abruptly adnate, pubescent (sometimes glabrous);
margins ciliate, cilia white to white opaque, strongly appressed and ascending, 0.03–0.1 mm;
apex with bristle white to white-opaque, 0.5–1.4 mm (those on underside leaves sometimes 1/4–1/2 longer than those on upperside leaves).
dimorphic, not clearly ranked.
solitary, 5–7 mm;
sporophylls ovate-deltate to ovate-triangular, abaxial ridges not prominent, base glabrous, margins short-ciliate, apex bristled.
solitary, (0.4–)1–1.5 cm;
sporophylls ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, abaxial ridges not prominent, base glabrous, margins short-ciliate to denticulate, apex bristled.
borne on upperside of stems, throughout stem length, 0.25–0.45 mm diam.
borne on upperside of stems, restricted to rhizomes and lower 1/3 of aerial stems, 0.3–0.4 mm diam.
stem leaves persistent, tightly appressed, scalelike.
stem leaves appressed, ascending, green, linear-lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, 2.2–3.8 × 0.29–0.4(–0.75) mm;
abaxial ridges present;
base abruptly adnate, cordate to almost peltate, pubescent or sometimes glabrous;
margins short-ciliate at base, denticulate toward apex, cilia white to transparent or greenish, spreading at base, ascending toward apex, 0.02–0.08 mm;
apex keeled, bristled;
bristle puberulent, rough, transparent to whitish, 0.23–0.75 mm.
= 18.
Selaginella hansenii
Selaginella bigelovii
Leaf dimorphism in Selaginella hansenii is only slightly and inconsistently expressed; the upperside leaves tend to be more lanceolate, short, and slightly thick, whereas the underside leaves tend to be more linear, longer, and thinner, but in some specimens the leaves are monomorphic. Red leaves are rare within Selaginella subg. Tetragonostachys, otherwise found in the flora only occasionally in S. rupestris. Such leaves are more common in S. steyermarkii Alston from southern Mexico and Guatemala and S. sartorii Hieronymus from Mexico.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Selaginella bigelovii is a member of the series Arenicolae (R. M. Tryon 1955) and is closely related to S. rupincola (see discussion). It may be confused with S. × neomexicana. Selaginella bigelovii, however, always has well-developed megasporangia with most of the megaspores and microspores well formed, whereas S. × neomexicana is a presumed sterile hybrid that does not form megaspores, seldom forms microspores, and usually has most sporangia misshapen (R. M. Tryon 1955). Moreover, S. × neomexicana has not been reported from either California or Baja California.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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