Selaginella hansenii
Selaginella uncinata
Hansen's spike-moss
blue spike-moss, peacock spike-moss
not readily fragmenting, prostrate, upperside and underside structurally different, irregularly forked, branches determinate, tips upturned.
long-creeping, branched, branches 3-forked, flat, not articulate, glabrous.
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).
delicate, papery.
solitary, 5–7 mm;
sporophylls ovate-deltate to ovate-triangular, abaxial ridges not prominent, base glabrous, margins short-ciliate, apex bristled.
solitary, 0.5–1.5 cm;
sporophylls monomorphic, lanceolate to narrowly ovate-lanceolate, strongly tapering toward apex, keeled, keel not dentate, base glabrous, margins transparent, entire, apex long-acuminate.
borne on upperside of stems, throughout stem length, 0.25–0.45 mm diam.
axillary, mostly at stem base or apex, 0.3–0.4 mm diam.
leaves distant, iridescent, green to blue-green, ovate-oblong, 3–4.2 × 1.5–2.5 mm;
basiscopic base with small auricle, acroscopic base overlapping stem;
margins conspicuously transparent, entire;
apex acute to obtuse.
leaves ovate-lanceolate, 2.2–3.5 × 1.2–1.8 mm;
base with outer auricle;
margins transparent, entire;
apex acuminate.
= 18.
Selaginella hansenii
Selaginella uncinata
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 uncinata is widely cultivated outdoors along the Gulf Coast of the United States and in greenhouses and nurseries. It is a native of southern China and is closely allied to S. delicatula (Desvaux ex Poiret) Alston, also in part from China.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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