Selaginella hansenii
Selaginella pilifera
Hansen's spike-moss
resurrection plant
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).
thick and stiff.
solitary, 5–7 mm;
sporophylls ovate-deltate to ovate-triangular, abaxial ridges not prominent, base glabrous, margins short-ciliate, apex bristled.
solitary, 5–10 mm;
sporophylls monomorphic, lanceolate-ovate, slightly keeled, keel not dentate, base pubescent, margins transparent to greenish, short-ciliate to denticulate, apex long-bristled.
borne on upperside of stems, throughout stem length, 0.25–0.45 mm diam.
borne on underside of stems, restricted to base of rosette, 4–5 mm diam.
(central) stem spirally compact, branched, branches 2–3-forked, prostrate, flat when moist, almost flat when dry, not articulate, glabrous.
leaves overlapping, ascending, green, elliptic to elliptic-ovate, (2–)3–3.5 × 0.8–1 mm;
base cordate, with 2 ciliate lobes or auricles;
margins transparent, acroscopic margins short-ciliate at base, dentate toward apex;
basiscopic margins entire to scattered dentate;
apex bristle 1/3–1/2 length of leaf blade.
leaves peltate, oblique-lanceolate, 2–3 × 0.7–1 mm;
base rounded to truncate, pubescent;
margins green to slightly transparent, inner margins dentate, outer margins entire or slightly dentate;
apex bristle 1/3 length of leaf blade.
= 20.
Selaginella hansenii
Selaginella pilifera
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 lepidophylla Mettenius is a misapplied name.
The long-bristled leaf apex of Selaginella pilifera is unique among New World xerophytic members of subg. Stachygynandrum series Circinatae Spring. The closest relative of S. pilifera is S. gypsophila A. R. Smith & T. Reeves, which is from Nuevo León, Mexico, and differs by having obtuse leaf apices. Further studies are needed to determine whether S. gypsophila represents a well-differentiated species or an environmental variant of S. pilifera.
Of conservation concern.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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