Lycopodium clavatum (
Stag's-horn Clubmoss or
Ground Pine) is the most widespread species in the
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
LycopodiumLycopodium is a genus of clubmosses, also known as ground pines, in the family Lycopodiaceae, a family of fern-allies . They are flowerless, vascular, terrestrial or epiphytic plants, with widely-branched, erect, prostrate or creeping stems, with small, simple, needle-like or scale-like leaves that...
of the clubmoss family
LycopodiaceaeThe Lycopodiaceae is a family of primitive vascular plants, including all of the core clubmosses. These plants bear spores on specialized structures at the apex of a shoot; they resemble a tiny battle club, from which the common name derives...
.
It is a
sporeIn biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions...
-bearing
vascular plantVascular plants are those plants that have lignified tissues for conducting water, minerals, and photosynthetic products through the plant. Vascular plants include the ferns, clubmosses, flowering plants, conifers and other gymnosperms...
, growing mainly prostrate along the ground with stems up to 1 m long; the stems are much branched, and densely clothed with small spirally-arranged
leavesIn botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin. There is continued debate about whether the flatness of leaves evolved to expose the chloroplasts to more light or to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. In...
. The leaves are 3-5 mm long and 0.7-1 mm broad, tapered to a fine hair-like white point.
Lycopodium clavatum (
Stag's-horn Clubmoss or
Ground Pine) is the most widespread species in the
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
LycopodiumLycopodium is a genus of clubmosses, also known as ground pines, in the family Lycopodiaceae, a family of fern-allies . They are flowerless, vascular, terrestrial or epiphytic plants, with widely-branched, erect, prostrate or creeping stems, with small, simple, needle-like or scale-like leaves that...
of the clubmoss family
LycopodiaceaeThe Lycopodiaceae is a family of primitive vascular plants, including all of the core clubmosses. These plants bear spores on specialized structures at the apex of a shoot; they resemble a tiny battle club, from which the common name derives...
.
It is a
sporeIn biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions...
-bearing
vascular plantVascular plants are those plants that have lignified tissues for conducting water, minerals, and photosynthetic products through the plant. Vascular plants include the ferns, clubmosses, flowering plants, conifers and other gymnosperms...
, growing mainly prostrate along the ground with stems up to 1 m long; the stems are much branched, and densely clothed with small spirally-arranged
leavesIn botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin. There is continued debate about whether the flatness of leaves evolved to expose the chloroplasts to more light or to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. In...
. The leaves are 3-5 mm long and 0.7-1 mm broad, tapered to a fine hair-like white point. The branches bearing spore cones turn erect, reaching 5-15 cm above ground, and have fewer leaves than the horizontal branches. The spore cones are yellow-green, 2-3 cm long and 5 mm broad. The horizontal stems produce
rootIn vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial or aerating . Furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either...
s at frequent intervals along their length, allowing the stem to grow indefinitely along the ground. The stems superficially resemble small seedlings of
coniferousThe conifers, division Pinophyta, also known as division Coniferophyta or Coniferae, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. Pinophytes are gymnosperms. They are cone-bearing seed plants with vascular tissue; all extant conifers are woody plants, the great majority...
trees, though it is not related to these.
It has a
subcosmopolitanIn biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is a state of being found almost anywhere around the world. A cosmopolitan biological category, e.g. genus, may be called a cosmopolite.Examples of cosmopolitan species:* Humans* House dust mite...
distribution, with distinct
subspeciesSubspecies in biological classification, is 1) a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, or 2) a taxonomic unit, a taxon in that rank...
and
varietiesIn botanical nomenclature, variety is a taxonomic rank below that of species: As such, it gets a ternary name .A variety will have an appearance distinct from other varieties, but will hybridize freely with those other varieties...
in different parts of its range:
- Lycopodium clavatum subsp. clavatum
- Lycopodium clavatum subsp. clavatum var. clavatum (Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
, North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
)
- Lycopodium clavatum subsp. clavatum var. aristatum (Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, CaribbeanThe Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts...
, Central AmericaManagua
Guatemala City
San Salvador
San Pedro Sula
Panama City
San José, Costa Rica
Santa Ana, El Salvador
León
San Miguel|-|}...
, northern South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
south to northern ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
)
- Lycopodium clavatum subsp. clavatum var. asiaticum (Japan
is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, northeast ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
)
- Lycopodium clavatum subsp. clavatum var. borbonicum (central and southern Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
)
- Lycopodium clavatum subsp. clavatum var. kiboanum (mountains of tropical Africa)
- Lycopodium clavatum subsp. contiguum (southern Central America
Managua
Guatemala City
San Salvador
San Pedro Sula
Panama City
San José, Costa Rica
Santa Ana, El Salvador
León
San Miguel|-|}...
, northern South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
; syn. Lycopodium contiguum)
Although globally widespread, like many clubmosses, it is confined to undisturbed sites, disappearing from
farmA farm is an area of land, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibers and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single individual, family, community, corporation...
ed areas and sites with regular
burningA wildfire is any uncontrolled fire that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Reflecting the type of vegetation or fuel, other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, grass fire, hill fire, peat fire, vegetation fire, and wildland fire may be used to describe the same phenomenon...
. As a result, it is
endangeredAn endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters. Also it could mean that due to deforestation there may be a lack of food and/or water...
in many areas. In the UK it is one of 101 species named as a high priority for conservation by the wild plant charity
PlantlifePlantlife is a wild plant conservation charity, founded in 1989. As of 2007, its membership was 10,500 and it owned 23 nature reserves around the UK. Its patron is HRH the Prince of Wales, its president is Adrian Darby OBE and its chairman is Roger Crofts...
.
Other common names
Common clubmoss, Stagshorn clubmoss, Wolfpaw clubmoss, Foxtail clubmoss, Running clubmoss, Running ground-pine, Running pine, Running moss, Princess Pine, and others.
Use
The spores of this moss, "Lycopodium powder", are explosive if present in the air in high enough densities. They were used as flash powder in early photography.
External links