Selaginella hansenii
Selaginella willdenowii
Hansen's spike-moss
vine spike-moss, Willdenow's spikemoss
not readily fragmenting, prostrate, upperside and underside structurally different, irregularly forked, branches determinate, tips upturned.
high-climbing, many times branched, branches 4–5-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, 0.5–2 cm;
sporophylls monomorphic, cordate to ovate-deltate, base glabrous, margins green, entire, apex slightly cuspidate.
borne on upperside of stems, throughout stem length, 0.25–0.45 mm diam.
borne on upperside or underside of stems throughout stem length, 2–3 mm diam.
leaves distant, iridescent, blue-green, ovate to oblong, (2.5–)3–4 X (1–)1.5–2 mm (leaves on tertiary stems ± 1/3 smaller);
basiscopic base rounded, acroscopic base with whitish, long, downward-curving auricle;
margins transparent (whitish and shiny when dry), entire;
apex rounded or obtuse.
leaves falcate-lanceolate or oblique-ovate, 2.4–2.7 × 0.9–1.3 mm;
base auriculate, outer auricle larger than inner;
margins transparent, entire;
apex obtuse.
= 20.
Selaginella hansenii
Selaginella willdenowii
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 willdenowii is cultivated principally as a garden plant; it escapes and becomes naturalized in southern Florida. It is now widely distributed and naturalized in many regions in tropical and subtropical America. Its bushy to vinelike habit and blue-green, iridescent leaves are unusual. The iridescence is apparently caused by the effect of thin film interference filters in the leaf epidermis (D. W. Lee 1977). Lee pointed out that the convex epidermal cells in this species may focus light into a single, distal, large chloroplast, possibly adaptations for the improvement of photosynthetic efficiency at the forest floor level.
Selaginella willdenowii is related to S. uncinata (Desvaux ex Poiret) Spring and to S. plana (Desvaux ex Poiret) Hieronymus, which has been reported in Florida (O. Lakela and R. W. Long 1976) but apparently has not become naturalized. Selaginella plana is an erect plant; the secondary branches have obovate-oblong axillary leaves with the apices acute to slightly acuminate, lateral leaves with rounded apices, and median leaves obtuse to rounded. The sporophylls are ovate-lanceolate, with serrate to short-ciliate and very distinctive, white transparent margins.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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