Selaginella apoda (L.) C. Morren

Meadow Spikemoss

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Meadow Spikemoss is a native perennial in the Spikemoss family (Selaginellaceae). It can be found throughout Alabama. Meadow Spikemoss occurs in ditches, on wet roadside banks, along streams, in low meadows, on wet rocks, and under bridges. It is fairly common, but due to its small size is often overlooked. During the late winter and early spring it is easier to spot before it is overgrown with larger plants. Meadow Spikemoss is a seedless vascular plant and not a true moss. It reproduces by forming spores at the base of specialized leaves known as “sporophylls” that are grouped together in a compact cluster known as a strobilus near the ends of the stems. Meadow Spikemoss is very similar to another species that is found in south Alabama--Gulf Spikemoss (Lycopodioides ludoviciana. Gulf Spikemoss is found only in the southernmost counties in Alabama. Even there it is uncommon, and is listed as an S1S2 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). Gulf Spikemoss differs from Meadow Spikemoss in having three to five rows of transparent cells along the margins of the leaves. Meadow Spikemoss usually has no transparent cells or a single row. The two species are closely related and hybrids have been reported. --A. Diamond

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Native FACW+ (NWPL)

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