Palhinhaea cernua (L.) Vasc. & Franco

Staghorn Clubmoss; Nodding Clubmoss

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Staghorn Clubmoss is a native perennial member of the Clubmoss family (Lycopodiaceae). It is found in the southern third of Alabama. It is often weedy, occurring on wet roadside banks, in seeps, bogs, and under bridges. Staghorn Clubmoss occurs in tropical and sub-tropical areas around the world. It is probably the most common member of the family. Staghorn Clubmoss resembles a small evergreen, with an upright stem producing alternate lateral branches. Other stems arch over the soil, rooting at their tips and forming more upright stems. The spores are produced in a cone-shaped structure called a strobilus that is located at the tip of the lateral branches. In Alabama Staghorn Clubmoss was at one time listed as an S1/S2 species (S1 - Typically 5 or fewer occurrences, very few remaining individuals, acres, or miles of stream, or some factor of its biology making it especially vulnerable in the state, S2 - Typically 6 to 20 occurrences, few remaining individuals, acres, or miles of stream, or factors demonstrably making it very vulnerable in the state) but additional populations have been discovered necessitating the de-listing from the tracking list.--A. Diamond & B. Keener

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Native FACW (NWPL) G5 (Global Rank)

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