Meadow spikemoss | |
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Conservation status | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Division: | Lycopodiophyta |
Class: | Isoetopsida |
Order: | Selaginellales |
Family: | Selaginellaceae |
Genus: | Selaginella |
Species: | S. apoda |
Binomial name | |
Selaginella apoda (L.) Spring[2] |
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Synonyms | |
Diplostachyum apodum
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Selaginella apoda, commonly known as meadow spike-moss, is a lycophyte native to much of the eastern United States and parts of northeastern Mexico. It is found primarily in damp soils in habitats such as swamps, wet fields, open woods and along stream banks. A lowland plant, it has only been recorded at elevations below 100 metres. It is closely related to Selaginella eclipes and S. ludoviciana, both of with which it has been reported to form hybrids. This group is characterised by relatively flat strobili and large megasporophylls which occur in the same plane as the lateral leaves.[4]
The plant was originally described, and named Lycopodium apodum by Carl Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum (1753).[2]