Flora of North America species comparison

decumbent or creeping, not readily fragmenting, irregularly forked, without budlike arrested branches, tips straight;

main stem upperside and underside structurally slightly different, conspicuously or inconspicuously indeterminate, lateral branches radially symmetric, conspicuously determinate, strongly ascending, 1–2-forked.

not readily fragmenting, prostrate, upperside and underside structurally different, irregularly forked, branches determinate, tips upturned.

monomorphic, in poorly defined pseudowhorls of 4 or 6, tightly appressed, ascending, green, linear-lanceolate to linear, in lateral ranks sometimes falcate, 2.5–4(–4.3) X 0.5–0.75 mm (upperside leaves smaller than underside, smaller also on ascending buds);

abaxial ridges present;

base (on main stem) decurrent, oblique, and glabrous on underside leaves, slightly decurrent to adnate, oblique, and glabrous or rarely puberulent on upperside leaves;

margins usually short-ciliate, cilia transparent, spreading or ascending at base, denticulate and ascending on distal 2/3, 0.02–0.07(–0.15) mm;

apex plane or sometimes slightly keeled, obtuse to attenuate, abruptly bristled;

bristle whitish, transparent to opaque, with few teeth or smooth, 0.5–1.1 mm.

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).

solitary, (0.5–)1–3(–4.5) cm;

sporophylls ovate-lanceolate, lanceolate, or seldom ovate, usually tapering toward apex, abaxial ridges well defined, base glabrous, margins proximally short-ciliate to denticulate, lacking cilia apically, apex usually attenuate or slightly keeled, short-bristled.

solitary, 5–7 mm;

sporophylls ovate-deltate to ovate-triangular, abaxial ridges not prominent, base glabrous, margins short-ciliate, apex bristled.

borne on upperside of stems, throughout stem length, 0.25–0.45 mm diam.

borne on upperside of stems, throughout stem length, 0.25–0.45 mm diam.