Species: Lycopodiella inundata (L.) Holub

comments | credits | copyright

Back to: Plants at Risk in Saskatchewan

Lycopodiella inundata (L.) Holub

Species Image Gallery
(opens in a new window)

TAXONOMY

Family:

Lycopodiaceae

Genus:

Lycopodiella

Species Synonyms:

Lycopodium inundatum L.
Lepidotis inundata (L.) C. Borner

Common Names:

inundated clubmoss
northern bog clubmoss

DISTRIBUTION

Canada:

northwestern – southern British Columbia, northeastern Alberta – northern Saskatchewan, western Ontario – Labrador – Newfoundland – Nova Scotia

Saskatchewan:

northern Saskatchewan; Lake Athabasca – Hasbala Lake – Windrum Lake

Ecoregion:

Athabasca Plain, Churchill River Upland, Selwyn Lake Upland, Tazin Lake Upland

HABITAT

Saskatchewan:

wet bogs, fens, and organic lake shores

Associated Species:

alpine bulrush, fir clubmoss, round-leaved sundew, star sedge

RARITY STATUS

Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):

Threatened

Nature Conservancy Status:

G5 S1

Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:

None

COSEWIC Status:

None

Inundated clubmoss is threatened in Saskatchewan because it is rare and regionally restricted to the north. Local population sizes vary. No immediate threats are known at the present time.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION

Roots:

arising from the stem

Stems:

stems horizontal, flat on ground, 3 – 12 cm long, slender; sterile erect branches absent

Leaves:

uniform, spreading, 5 – 6 mm long, linear to narrowly triangular, twisted towards the upper side of stem, margins entire

Strobili:

1 – 3 cm long, sessile; sporophylls spreading to spreading-ascending, expanded at base, similar to leaves margins rarely toothed; cone stalks 1 per plant, 3.5 – 6 cm long

Spores:

sulphur-yellow

KEY FOR VARIETIES FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN

1 Horizontal stems absent; spore sacs borne in axils of the leaves	Huperzia
1 Horizontal stems present; spore sacs borne in cones	2

2 Cones green, not much different from stems; sporophylls leaf-like; rhizomes lacking	Lycopodiella
2 Cones yellow, differentiated from stems; sporophylls scale-like; rhizomes present	3

3 Leaves in 6 or more vertical rows, not overlapping; cone stalks falsely appearing to have one main branch	Lycopodium
3 Leaves in 4 – 5 vertical rows, overlapping (except in D. sitchense); cone stalks repeatedly forked into two equal branches	Diphasiastrum