| Section 1 » Family Selaginellaceae |
Show/Hide Synonym
| taxonName | relationship | relatedTaxonName | relatedTaxonRefText | relComments |
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| Bryodesma acanthonota | = | Selaginella acanthonota | Flora of North America (1993b, 1997, 2000, 2002a, 2002b, 2003a, 2004b, 2005, 2006a, 2006b, 2006c, 2007a, 2009, 2010) | | | Bryodesma acanthonota | = | Selaginella acanthonota | Kartesz (1999) | | | Bryodesma acanthonota | = | Selaginella acanthonota | Small (1933, 1938) | | | Bryodesma acanthonota | < | Selaginella arenicola | Radford, Ahles, and Bell (1968) | | | Bryodesma acanthonota | < | Selaginella arenicola | Wunderlin & Hansen Flora of Florida (3) | | | Bryodesma acanthonota | = | Selaginella arenicola ssp. acanthonota | | | | Source: Weakley's Flora |
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| Author | (Underwood) Skoda | |
| Distribution | Ranges over the southwestern third of the Coastal Plain, from the Sandhills region southeast to the coast, ranging north to Moore, Harnett, and Pender counties.
This is a Southeastern species with a fairly small range. It occurs from southeastern NC south to southern FL, but is not known from AL or states to the west.
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| Abundance | Infrequent to locally fairly common. Scarce in the Sandhills proper. Not as numerous as might be expected in NC. The NCNHP's State Rank of S2S3 is reasonably accurate, though S3 is possibly better. | |
| Habitat | This is a species of sandy soil, and usually very xeric sites. It grows in Sand Barrens, Coastal Fringe Sandhills, Xeric Sandhill Scrub, and other similar natural communities. Easiest seen, and locally common, on xeric sandrims of Carolina bays. |
| Phenology | Fruits from June to August. | |
| Identification | This is a wiry, somewhat decumbent plant with multiple finger-like branches, somewhat ascending and forming a rounded clump 6 inches or more across, but reaching only about 1.5 inches high. The plant is gray-green, covered densely by scale-like leaves with acuminate tips, looking quite moss-like. The strobilus (reproductive structure) is generally erect and about 2/5-inch long. The other two native NC species in the genus grow on rocks, in the Mountains and Piedmont. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | Formerly named in most references as Selaginella arenicola, which in the broad sense extends to TX, OK, and AR.
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| Other Common Name(s) | Spiny Spikemoss | |
| State Rank | S2S3 | |
| Global Rank | G4 | |
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| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
