Your help is appreciated. We depend on donations to help keep this site free and up to date for you. Can you please help us?

Donate

Native Plant Trust: Go Botany Discover thousands of New England plants

Selaginella apoda — meadow spikemoss

Copyright: various copyright holders. To reuse an image, please click it to see who you will need to contact.

Facts

The stems of meadow spikemoss have two rows of larger leaves and two rows of smaller leaves. The veins in those leaves help distinguish it from a true moss.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields, riverine (in rivers or streams), shores of rivers or lakes

New England distribution

Adapted from BONAP data

Found this plant? Take a photo and post a sighting.

North America distribution

Adapted from BONAP data

enlarge

Characteristics

Habitat
  • terrestrial
  • wetlands
New England state
  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont
Leaf shape
the vegetative leaves are short and scale-like
Spore leaf arrangement
the sporophylls are located on spore cones at the tips of the shoots or branches
Form of shoot
NA
Horizontal stem
the horizontal stem is on the surface of the ground
Leaf differences
the vegetative leaves within a node differ in size and shape
Teeth on leaf edges
the edges of the vegetative leaves have tiny teeth
Leaf outline
  • the vegetative leaves are widest above the base, then taper narrowly towards the tip (lanceolate)
  • the vegetative leaves are widest above the base, then broadly tapering towards the tip (ovate)
Show all characteristics

  • Clonal plantlets

    Gemma arrangement
    NA
    Gemma shape
    NA
    Gemma width
    0 mm

  • Leaves

    Leaf differences
    the vegetative leaves within a node differ in size and shape
    Leaf length
    1–2.25 mm
    Leaf orientation
    • the vegetative leaves spread away from the stem
    • the vegetative leaves spread slightly away from the stem, at a steep angle
    Leaf outline
    • the vegetative leaves are widest above the base, then taper narrowly towards the tip (lanceolate)
    • the vegetative leaves are widest above the base, then broadly tapering towards the tip (ovate)
    Leaf ranks
    4
    Leaf shape
    the vegetative leaves are short and scale-like
    Pores on leaves
    there are pores on both sides of the vegetative leaves
    Teeth on leaf edges
    the edges of the vegetative leaves have tiny teeth

  • Place

    Habitat
    • terrestrial
    • wetlands
    New England state
    • Connecticut
    • Maine
    • Massachusetts
    • New Hampshire
    • Rhode Island
    • Vermont
    Specific habitat
    • in rivers or streams
    • man-made or disturbed habitats
    • meadows or fields
    • shores of rivers or lakes

  • Spores or spore cones

    Cone base at stem
    the base of the spore-cone does not have a distinct stalk
    Cone stalk branching
    NA
    Cone thickness
    0 mm
    Length of cone
    10–20 mm
    Number of cones
    1–2
    Quillwort itssue covering spores
    NA
    Same or different spores
    there are two different types of spores present
    Spore diameter
    0.29–0.38
    Spore girdle
    there is no girdle alongside the equatorial ridge
    Spore leaf arrangement
    the sporophylls are located on spore cones at the tips of the shoots or branches
    Spore leaf lifespan
    the sporophylls wither and fall off at the end of the growing season
    Spore leaf orientation
    the sporophylls slant upwards at a steep angle
    Spore leaf shape
    the spore-bearing leaves are small and scale-like
    Spore leaf teeth
    the edges of the spore-bearing leaves have tiny teeth
    Spore texture
    the spore surface has a net-like pattern on it (reticulate)
    Sporophyll ranks
    the sporophylls line up to form an X (4 ranks of leaves)

  • Stem, shoot, branch

    Branch cross-section
    NA
    Branch form
    NA
    Constriction zones
    • NA
    • NA
    Form of shoot
    NA
    Horizontal stem
    the horizontal stem is on the surface of the ground
    Horizontal stem length
    anything
    Horizontal stem thickness
    0.2–0.4 mm
    Stem height
    anything

Wetland status

Usually occurs in wetlands, but occasionally in non-wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACW)

In New England

Distribution

Connecticut
present
Maine
present
Massachusetts
present
New Hampshire
present
Rhode Island
present
Vermont
present

Conservation status

Exact status definitions can vary from state to state. For details, please check with your state.

Maine
rare (S-rank: S2), endangered (code: E)
Massachusetts
SN4? (uncertain) (S-rank: SN4?)
New Hampshire
uncommon (S-rank: S3), W (code: W)
Vermont
uncommon (S-rank: S3)

From Flora Novae Angliae dichotomous key

1.  Selaginella apoda (L.) C. Morren N

meadow spikemoss. Lycopodioides apoda (L.) Kuntze • CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT; nearly throughout but absent from most of ME and northern NH. Stream banks, mesic to wet-mesic meadows and lawns.

Native to North America?

Yes

Sometimes confused with

Selaginella eclipes:
median trophophylls with a long-attenuate, often recurved, apex, not keeled, the vein prolonged into the tip, and megaspores 0.33–0.4 mm in diameter, more loosely reticulate, shiny (vs. S. apoda, with median trophophylls acute to acuminate at apex, rarely attenuate and then often apically keeled and the vein not reaching tip, and megaspores mostly 0.29–0.35 mm in diameter, closely reticulate, dull).

Synonyms

  • Lycopodioides apoda (L.) Kuntze

Family

Selaginellaceae

Genus

Selaginella