Selaginellaceae

Spikemoss Family

By: George Rogers

A small, mostly tropical family of  “fern allies” often confused with ferns. Selaginellas have tiny leaves, each with just one vein, but often have systems of flat leafy branches resembling superficially fern fronds.   Selaginellas are botany class evolutionary curiosities having no flowers, no fruits, and a life cycle much like that of ferns with free-living gametophytes, the female gametophytes being endosporic.  Sporangia are in leafy “cones” more properly called strobili.   Multiple species are in cultivation, and some are native to Florida;  S. uncinata has escaped cultivation.

Plants listed in the manual include:

Selaginella kraussiana

Selaginella uncinata