I believe it was you who answered a question I posted a few days ago, asking for tips on the care of Selaginella uncinata... Thank you very much for your help!

I am a newcomer to growing mosses and other fern allies, but I have long been an admirer of them. Where I grew up in Minnesota there are a lot of swampy woodlands in which various kinds of mosses (a lot of sphagnum), ferns, lycopodiums, and selags abound. S. rupestris grows in Minnesota, and even some S. densa has been found, up on Rainy Lake by the Canadian border. For me, a great deal of the appeal of the Selaginellas lies in their form - they are inconspicuous, small plants, yet as finely detailed as a whole world unto themselves upon further inspection. S. uncinata is the only one I have grown - I really like the iridescent bluishness of the foliage. I am still not convinced that I have found the correct set of conditions for it, however. I would like to try to find images of S. uncinata in its native habitat (China), but have not yet had any success in my attempts to do so. I am still trying to figure out how much light is too much, how often it needs watering, etc. It is still potted in the plastic pot I received it in upon purchasing it. I would consider putting it in a larger, shallow, bonsai-style pot at some point in the future, or possibly putting it in a hanging pot, but not before I establish some sense that my method of caring for it is indeed making it happy!

I absolutely love these and have a fair collection. I also am very interested in Lycopodiums. Another area of interest to me is filmy ferns but I have not been able to locate any. In the Piedmont North Carolina there are few species of Lycos or Selaginellas

Hi Harry,
Thanks for your comments.
In North Carolina I think there is only one species of Selaginella, S. apoda. You probably have 2-3 species of Lycopodium.
Have you tried growing any native Lycopodiums in pots?
Any native Selaginellas (these are much easier than the lycopods!)?
Stayed tune I am currently working on a web journal on native North American Selaginella species. I do grow 4 native species and have one other that is barely hanging on. Will have detailed like journal on the four like the one on the moss flora I did a month or so ago. Will be launching this at Dave's Garden Web but will post a link on this forum too.
They are really very interesting plants. I really do like MINIs!!!

I have tried to grow the native Lycos with no success. The one called running pine is common here but it always dies when I transplant any.
As for your journal, I hate to say it but if it's on Dave's Garden Web I will not be participating. Sorry. I'm not terribly fond of all the popups that occur here but feel that this is at least a place you can express your opinion.

Harry....
Running Ground Pine or Fan Clubmoss (Lycopodium digitatum) is one of the toughest ones to transplant. I've tried many times, without ongoing success. Sometimes they will live for a few years before disappearing.
If you can find Lycopodium obscurum or L. tristachyum or even L. rupestris, you will probably have a better chance of success. Those are also native, but nowhere abundant,
in the NC Piedmont. Some other Clubmosses native to the NC Piedmont are Lycopodiella caroliniana, L. appressa (wetlands), L. alopecuroides and Huperzia lucidula.
(Reference: Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas, Radford, Ahles & Bell, circa 1969)
Rb

Razorback,
Thanks for the info.
What it really points out is that the natural environment is
not really that well known and how the plants are growing in it.
Hope someone in those areas is taking the time to do so!!??

And Harry, I will be posting a link here as well. Probably at all the forums I visit daily too!!! I think it will be of definite interest and I am trying to do a bang up job with it!!

Hope to have a unexpected surprise journal up by Monday if not earlier. Will launch from this forum. Stuff no one has ever seen in this country or probably almost no one????

I was watching a show called Expeditions created by SCETV and they visited Dominica (Not the Dominican Republic). They were in an area where they kneeled down the there were many species of Lycopodiums everywhere around them. These were so common they were used for many household uses as well as medicinal. It was stunning. just like here where you can find they that are numerous but finding the spot is the trick. I have never seen any in the Piedmont other than the running pine. I will keep my eyes peels as I would love to grow some. in my 2.5 acre woodland. The sneaky running pine is on the lot right next to me but has never spread to my land.
Also being an epiphyte nut I love the epiphytic Lycopodiums (maybe Huperzia, never knew the difference)

Lycopods

In Georgia, I have found three kinds of lycopods: 1) ground pine, 2) ground cedar, and 3) a bright lime-green lycopod in the southern part of the state that is configured somewhat like the ground pine, only the leaflets are finer.

I have had long-term transplanting success only with # 1.

Are there other species of lycopod I should be looking for?

Do you know the botanical names for these three?

Selags

What are the native selag(s) in Georgia? What should I be looking for here?

PS: On a trip to New Caledonia, I saw both lycopods and selags. The selags looked familiar, but the lycopod was unusual, as tall as 3 or 4 feet in places.

Here is a list of the Selaginella species of Georgia:
There are two sections:
1. Tetragonostachys 2. Stachygynandrum
the first are moss like and the second are like the common
Selaginella kraussiana that is sold in many garden centers
under a variety of names.
1. tetragonostachys:
acanthonota, arenicola, rupestris, tortipila
2. stachygynandrum:
apoda, ludoviciana
There are several members of stachgynandrum that are of foreign origin that have been naturalized in the state. I have excluded them from the above list.
For more info check out my site (link below)

On growing Lycopodium:
there is some belief that these club mosses have a commensual relationship with certain soil fungi in order to
survive. I have no clue but would tend to think that not enough is really known to make such a statement. More information is really needed on the soil characteristics that these plants grow in, including temperatures and the seasonal variations of the characterisitics. I tend to think that for the creeping species that die back is normal on the older stems as the colony advances outward. I would think the easiest member to grow would be the semi aquatic Lycopodiella species.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Genus Selaginella

Actually, so far I've found the rock selaginella's like rupestris to be the easiest. The others seems to be more particular about things like moisture and PH.

Just discovered this plant and am quite intrigued! I was looking for something to add interest under the trees along a bayou in our backyard. Seems that the biggest challenge will be keeping it moist enough competing with the trees for water. I got the Selaginella kraussiana 'Gold Tips' and am in love with the color, such a deep green with vibrant lime green ruffled margins. Trying one in a container on porch table as well. I'm an interior plantscaper and would be very interested in using this plant in some high light interior locations....anyone had experience with using them inside?

I grow Selaginella kraussiana in little terrariums. They seem to get by with very little light Only other species I have is S. apoda which isn't all that exciting. There is an iridescent species that is sometimes sold as an aquarium plant that I've considered buying online for use in a terrarium. Forget the name of it.

I call them "reptile plants," along with sedums and others. I find them fascinating. "Reptile," by the way, means "creeping" or "crawling."

Here's how you transplant Diphasiastrum digitatum, groundcedar: take a large mum pot. Locate a growing tip in a natural patch. Dig a hole the exact size of the mum pot at the growing tip, put the dirt in the mum pot, and install it in the hole. Over the next year or two, depending on growth rate, keep guiding the growing tip back into the pot. so you get at least a year's worth of rooting into the pot. Then cut the stem and lift the pot and plant the whole pot in its new location and let it grow out of the pot.

By the way, Selaginella acanthonota is native to eastern North Carolina. I found a LOT of it in Wilmington.

Lycopodiella alopecuroides (L.) Cranfill Show All
foxtail clubmoss

Wow John thanks for resurrecting this old post. Forgot all about it. A lot has sure changed since 2007!! But I see that you are on the hunt. Hope you can share info on the habitats that you find the species in. That would be cool to learn. Yeah the S. acanthonota is reported as occurring at lower elevations from North Carolina southward into Florida in sandy soils. My question would be what is the sandy soil: just fine sand, coarse sand, mixed debris and coarse sand, or what? Does the species just grow along the surface with its rhizoids growing into the sand or do stems lie partially buried in the sandy soils??

It is an interesting species and its habitat type is generally restricted to only 3 taxons, S. arenicola and its subspecies as well as S. acanthonota. These 3 are considered to be a species complex. Because little is known about them any information you can provide in terms of photos and habitat analysis would be very interesting. And hopefully if you try growing some that would be cool to learn how you have done it!!

Both were in medium sand, very sandy sand, little organic matter apparent. They both grew in discrete clumps, with well-defined root masses. They really didn't creep so much as gradually grow the clump. They obviously like high light levels and can survive utter dessication. I have some of both potted up and they're now getting plenty of moisture as it IS spring. We'll see how they do.