Lycopodium selago : Mountain Club-moss

Scientific Name:

Kingdom: Plantae

Division:

• Tracheophyta (vascular)
• Pteridophyta (spore bearing)

Class: Lycopodiopsida (club-moss class)

Family: Lycopodiaceae (Club-moss Family)

Genera: Lycopodium (Club-moss) (Gk.Lyco=wolf+podos=foot in reference to either the branch shoot tips or the roots to a wolfs paw.)

Species: selago (Lat. for club-moss)

Synonym(s): Huperzia selago

English Name(s):

Mountain Club-moss,

First Nation Names:

Structure:

• Erect stems to 20cm high or higher, branched several times, usually near base.
• Horizontal stems short, leafy, rooting.

Leaves:

• Yellow-green, crowded, 8-10 rows, 3-8 mm long.

Reproductive Parts:

• Sporangia (spore-producing organs) not in strobili (spore cones),
• Sporangia (spore-producing organs) located in the leaf axils (where leaf joins stem).

Seed:

Not to Be Confused With:

• Lack of strobili makes it not easily confused with other Lycopodium species and is too large to be confused with Selaginella species.

Physiology:

• Bulbils in the axils of some of the uppermost leaves break off when the leaves are touched, and fall to the ground, where they grow into new plants.

Life Cycle:

• Perennial

Seasonal Cycle:

• Evergreen(-ish)
• Sporangia produced early in season, followed later by sterile leaves.

Animal Uses:

Habitat:

• Arctic tundra species.
• South of arctic found in alpine, often below late snow patches; also in bogs, and cold woods.

Modern:

Industrial:

Medicinal:

• Huperzine is under investigation as treatment for myasthenia gravis and Alzeimer's disease.
• Contains poisonous alkaloid causing pain in the mouth, vomiting and diarrhea.
• It has been shown to have strong anticholinesterase activity, and markedly increases efficiency for learning and memory in animals.
• The alkaloid huperzine has been extracted from these plants.

Food:

Traditional Gwich'in:

Folklore:

Industrial:

Medicinal:

Food:

Traditional Other:

Folklore:

Industrial:

Medicinal:

Food: