Selaginella uncinata

Selaginella uncinata, the blue spikemoss,[1] peacock moss, peacock spikemoss, or spring blue spikemoss, is a species of plant in the Selaginellaceae family.

Selaginella uncinata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Lycophytes
Class: Lycopodiopsida
Order: Selaginellales
Family: Selaginellaceae
Genus: Selaginella
Species:
S. uncinata
Binomial name
Selaginella uncinata
(Desv. ex Poir.) Spring

It 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 Selaginella delicatula (Desvaux ex Poiret) Alston, also in part from China.[2]

Description

Plants terrestrial, forming diffuse mats. Stems long-creeping, branched, branches 3-forked, flat, not articulate, glabrous. Rhizophores axillary, mostly at stem base or apex, 0.3--0.4 mm diam. Leaves delicate, papery. Lateral leaves distant, iridescent, green to blue-green, ovate-oblong, 3--4.2 X 1.5--2.5 mm; basiscopic base with small auricle, acroscopic base overlapping stem; margins conspicuously transparent, entire; apex acute to obtuse. Median leaves ovate-lanceolate, 2.2--3.5 X 1.2--1.8 mm; base with outer auricle; margins transparent, entire; apex acuminate. Strobili 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. 2 n = 18.[2]

References
  1. "Selaginella unicinata". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  2. "Selaginella uncinata in Flora of North America @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
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