Lycopodium clavatum L.
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Authority
Proctor, George R. 1989. Ferns of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 53: 1-389.
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Family
Lycopodiaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Plants terrestrial, with wide-creeping, arched or rampant leafy stems rooting at intervals, bearing distant, erect and rigid or ascending and lax subpinnately or irregularly forked branches 10-25 cm long, some of these terminating in short or elongate, finely bracteate, erect peduncles, the latter sometimes simple or usually forked once or twice, each branch ending in a solitary cylindric strobile. Main stems reaching several meters in length, cylindric, 2-2.5 mm thick (excluding leaves), sparsely or densely clothed with ascending, lance-linear, attenuate, hair-pointed denticulate leaves, these 4-7 mm long and 0.5-1 mm broad. Leaves of erect branches of similar dimensions but with entire margins, usually spreading, or else ngidly upcurved and loosely imbricate. Unbranched basal portion of peduncles 1-12 cm lon, bearing subremote, acicular, rigidly ascending leaves. Strobiles 2-8.5 cm long; sporophylls ovate-acuminate with spreading, hair-pointed apex, 2-3.5 mm long, 0.8-1.2 mm broad; sporangia cordate-reniform, ca. 1 m broad, oncealed by base of sporophyll. Spores prominently reticulate.
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Discussion
Type. Yet to be selected from the Linnaean materials or references.
Syn. Lepidotis clavata (Linnaeus) Palisot de Beauvois Prodr. aetheogam. 108. 1805. (Extensive further synonymy omitted.)
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Distribution
General Distribution. Nearly worldwide in suitable habitats, especially in north-temperate and boreal regions and on tropical mountains.