Selaginella hansenii
Selaginella eremophila
Hansen's spike-moss
desert spike-moss
not readily fragmenting, prostrate, upperside and underside structurally different, irregularly forked, branches determinate, tips upturned.
not readily fragmenting, prostrate, upperside and underside structurally different, irregularly forked;
branches determinate, tips upturned.
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).
conspicuously dimorphic, in 8 ranks, tightly appressed, ascending, green;
abaxial ridges present;
apex with deciduous, twisted, transparent bristle ± 0.3 mm, becoming acute to slightly mucronate in oldest branches.
solitary, 5–7 mm;
sporophylls ovate-deltate to ovate-triangular, abaxial ridges not prominent, base glabrous, margins short-ciliate, apex bristled.
solitary, 3–8 mm;
sporophylls ovate-deltate, abaxial ridges not prominent, base glabrous, margins ciliate, apex acute to mucronate.
borne on upperside of stems, throughout stem length, 0.25–0.45 mm diam.
borne on upperside of stems, throughout stem length, 0.2 mm diam.
leaves lanceolate to lanceolate-elliptic (on central ranks) or falcate (on marginal ranks), 2–2.7 × 0.5–0.7 mm;
base decurrent, glabrous;
margins ciliate, cilia transparent to opaque, spreading, 0.04–0.1 mm.
leaves lanceolate, 1.3–1.4 × 0.3–0.4 mm;
base abruptly adnate, pubescent, hairs often running along groove;
margins ciliate, cilia transparent to opaque, spreading, ca. 0.1 mm.
Selaginella hansenii
Selaginella eremophila
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 eremophila is most closely related to the Mexican S. parishii L. Underwood and S. landii Greenman & Pfeiffer. In S. eremophila and the following two species, S. arizonica and S. peruviana, the leaves are arranged in 8 conspicuous ranks: 3 underside (2 marginal, 1 central), 2 lateral, and 3 upperside (2 marginal, 1 central).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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