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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE SELAGINELLA FAMILY | |||||||||
| Members of the selaginella family are commonly overlooked due to their resemblance to mosses. These plants are annual or perennial herbs that may remain green over the winter months. . The stems are leafy and branches and can be mat-forming or erect. Generally the leaves are scale-like and small. The reproductive structures are arranged into a special kind of cone called a strobilus. The cone is made of leaf-like bracts, called sporophylls, and spore sacs called sporangia. There are two different types of sporangia, the microsporangia and the megasporangia. The microsporangia contain many, small male spores while the megasporangia contain a few, large female spores. There is one sporangium per sporophyll. | |||||||||
| NORTHERN SPIKEMOSS | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Selaginella selaginoides | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Northern spikemoss is a mat-forming perennial plant with few fibrous roots. The stems are creeping and are 1 to 4 cm long. The leaves are spirally arranged on the stem. The leaves on the fertile branches have small spines on the margins. The strobili are nearly cylindrical in shape and contain two types of spores. The sporophylls are larger than the leaves and also have small spines on the margin. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Northern spikemoss grows on receding shorelines and in bogs. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in northern to central Saskatchewan in the Moist Mixed Grassland, Aspen Parkland, Boreal Transition, Mid-Boreal Upland, Mid-Boreal Lowland, Athabasca Plain, and Selwyn Lake Upland ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Northern spikemoss is threatened because it is rare or uncommon in Saskatchewan. No immediate threats are known but may occur in the future. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY NORTHERN SPIKEMOSS | |||||||||
| * Are the plants moss-like? * Is the plant mat-forming? * Are there two types of spores? * Did you find it in northern to central Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found northern spikemoss! | |||||||||
