Selaginella mutica
Selaginella selaginoides
bluntleaf spikemoss
club spikemoss, clubmoss, mountain selaginella, mountain-moss, northern spike-moss, prickly mountain-moss, sélaginelle fausse-sélagine
radially symmetric, long- to short-creeping, not readily fragmenting, ± regularly forked, without budlike arrested branches, tips straight;
main stem indeterminate, lateral branches determinate, 1–2-forked.
not readily fragmenting, tips not upturned; creeping stems filiform, indeterminate, branching dichotomously;
upright stems stout, unbranched (3–10 cm aboveground), terminating in simple strobili.
monomorphic, in ± alternate pseudowhorls of 3, tightly appressed, ascending, green, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate or lanceolate-elliptic, 1–2 × 0.45–0.6 mm;
abaxial ridges well defined;
base rounded and adnate, sometimes slightly decurrent, pubescent or glabrous;
margins ciliate to denticulate, cilia transparent, spreading or ascending, 0.03–0.17 mm;
apex keeled, obtuse or slightly attenuate, nearly truncate in profile, blunt to short-bristled;
bristle transparent to greenish transparent or whitish, smooth, 0.06–0.45 mm.
green, lanceolate, 3–4.5 × 0.75–1.2 mm (smaller on horizontal stems, 1/3 less than those on upright stems);
abaxial groove absent;
base decurrent, forming saclike structure with stem;
margins with soft spiny projections, 0.1–0.2 mm;
apex acuminate to subulate.
solitary, (0.6–)1–3 cm;
sporophylls ovate-lanceolate, ovate-elliptic, or deltate-ovate, abaxial ridges well defined, base glabrous, margins ciliate to denticulate, apex strongly to slightly keeled, short-bristled to blunt.
(1–)2–3(–5) cm;
sporophylls lanceolate-triangular, 4.5–6 × 1.15–1.5 mm, lacking abaxial ridges.
borne on upperside of stems, throughout stem length, 0.13–0.23 mm diam.
= 18.
= 18.
Selaginella mutica
Selaginella selaginoides
Selaginella mutica, S. underwoodii (R. M. Tryon 1955; C. A. Weatherby 1943), and S. wallacei all have similar patterns of variation. Study is needed to assess to what degree such variability is caused by environmental or genetic factors. Within S. mutica, two rather distinct, morphologic extremes are recognized here as varieties. Many specimens having leaves with spreading, long, marginal cilia and a short, broken, apical bristle have been considered intermediate between the two varieties, but they belong in S. mutica var. mutica.
Selaginella mutica may be one of the parent species of the putative hybrid species S. × neomexicana (see discussion). Selaginella mutica is often found growing in the same habitat with S. underwoodii, S. × neomexicana, and S. weatherbiana. According to R. M. Tryon (1955), where the two grow together, S. mutica mats gradually entirely replace mats of S. underwoodii over time. Selaginella mutica is sometimes confused with S. viridissima.
Varieties 2.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Selaginella selaginoides is reported to have strobili with basal megasporangia and apical microsporangia (H. T. Horner Jr. and H. J. Arnott 1963). Some individuals, however, have megasporangia at the tip of the strobili. Selaginella selaginoides is generally thought to be a primitive member of the genus (F. O. Bower 1908; T. L. Phillips and G. A. Leisman 1966; R. M. Tryon 1955), but certain of its characteristics may be derived. It is unique in having an active megaspore dispersal mechanism, termed "compression and slingshot megaspore ejection" (C. N. Page 1989), and it has a peculiar root position and development (E. E. Karrfalt 1981) probably found elsewhere only in the closely related species S. deflexa Brackenridge of Hawaii. Both features may be derived rather than primitive.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Margins of sporophylls usually long-ciliate, seldom denticulate, cilia spreading; apex of leaves with or without bristle, 0.03–0.06 mm; leaf margins long- ciliate, rarely denticulate, cilia spreading. | var. mutica |
1. Margins of sporophylls mostly very short-ciliate to denticulate, cilia and teeth ascending; apex of leaves with bristle 0.2–0.45 mm; leaf margins short-ciliate to denticulate, cilia and teeth ascending. | var. limitanea |
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