Question: I often come across Dendrolycopodium plants like the one in the photos below, which have trophophylls near the base of …
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Question
I often come across Dendrolycopodium plants like the one in the photos below, which have trophophylls near the base of the stem that come off the stem at close to a 90 degree angle, but the stem does not feel prickly at all. Is this just a form of D. hickeyi that I'm seeing? (the trophophylls on different ranks of lateral stems are all the same length). Does the lower stem need to have both widely spreading trophophylls AND feel prickly to be D. dendroideum? Photos taken in Andover, MA. Thanks.
Answer
Dear Susan, Dendrolycopodium dendroideum does not have to feel prickly. It is primarily the orientation of the trophophylls near the stem base that matters, not how rigid they are (which can confer a prickly feel). The orientation of the trophophylls usually means someone feels them more acutely than in the other species, hence the name prickly. Your images looks to be Dendrolycopodium dendroideum. Best wishes.
