Selaginella hansenii
Selaginella rupincola
Hansen's spike-moss
rockloving spikemoss
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;
both rhizomatous and aerial stems often with 1 branch arrested, budlike, tips straight; rhizomatous stems hard to distinguish on wholly creeping plants;
aerial stems erect or ascending, sometimes decumbent to slightly creeping, budlike arrested branches restricted mostly near stem base.
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, 0.5–2.5(–3.5) cm;
sporophylls lanceolate, strongly tapering toward tip, abaxial ridges prominent, base glabrous, margins short-ciliate, apex long-bristled.
borne on upperside of stems, throughout stem length, 0.25–0.45 mm diam.
borne on upperside of stems, restricted to lower stems or throughout stem length, 0.3–0.5 mm diam.
stem leaves persistent or deciduous, tightly appressed, scalelike.
stem leaves appressed, ascending, green, linear-lanceolate, 3–4.7 × 0.45–0.65 mm;
abaxial ridges present;
base abruptly adnate, rounded, pubescent;
margins long-ciliate, cilia white to whitish, spreading, 0.1–0.2 mm;
apex not keeled to slightly keeled;
bristle white to whitish or yellowish to greenish near base, puberulent, 0.65–1.85 mm (1/3–1/2 length of leaves).
Selaginella hansenii
Selaginella rupincola
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 rupincola is allied to S. bigelovii. It is one of the presumed parents of S. × neomexicana (see discussion). In addition to characteristics given, it can be separated from S. bigelovii in having hairs often running along the ridges of the abaxial groove, whereas S. bigelovii has nonhairy ridges on the abaxial groove.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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