Selaginellaceae
(Spike Moss Family)
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Habit
- mostly prostrate perennial
herbs
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Stems
- mostly creeping, much
branched
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Leaves
- simple, small, all alike
(2 ranked) or dimorphic
(4 ranked)
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Sporangia
- dissimilar (heterosporous);
aggregated at tips
of branches in axils of well-differentiated
sporophylls (aka seta
in Kerney and Peebles); fertile branch tip called strobilus
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Megaspores
- 4 per sporangium;
thick walled yellow or white megaspores
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Microspores
- 100 per sporangium
and minute (pollen sized);
spiny gametophytes
develop in spore wall
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Diversity
- 1 genus / ca. 750 species (7 in AZ)
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Distribution
- mostly tropical with a few species extending into arctic regions; Arizona
species mostly in desert mountains
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Economics
- cultivated ornamental
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Notes
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Images
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