Selaginella pallescens (C.Presl) Spring

  • Authority

    Mickel, John T. & Smith, Alan R. 2004. The pteridophytes of Mexico. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 88: 1-1054.

  • Family

    Selaginellaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Selaginella pallescens (C.Presl) Spring

  • Description

    Deprecated: mb_convert_encoding(): Handling HTML entities via mbstring is deprecated; use htmlspecialchars, htmlentities, or mb_encode_numericentity/mb_decode_numericentity instead in /home/emu/nybgweb/www-dev/htdocs/science-dev/wp-content/themes/nybgscience/lib/VHMonographsDetails.php on line 179

    Species Description - Stems erect or rosette-forming, caespitose, glabrous, lustrous, whitish, 4–25 cm tall, ca. 1 mm diam., angled when dry, not articulate, not flagelliform, not stoloniferous, 2–3 times branched; rhizophores limited to stem bases; leaves on main stems monomorphic, tan, ovate, bases with two long, almost overlapping auricles, margins long-ciliate, apices cuspidate, of two kinds (anisophyllous) above first branch; lateral leaves ovate, 1– 2 mm long, bases rounded to cordate, margins long- to shortciliate, lustrous, old leaves light tan, apices aristate; median leaves ovate, bases with a single short auricle, margins short-ciliate with a broad white border, apices aristate, aristae 0.3–0.5 mm; axillary leaves lanceolate, exauriculate, long-ciliate at bases to shortciliate; strobili quadrangular, 3–6 mm long; sporophylls monomorphic; megasporangia basal or subbasal; microsporangia in distal portions of strobili; megaspores white or cream to light yellow, with ridges very low and anastomosing, 387–448 µm diam.; microspores bright orange to scarlet, capitate-papillate, usually shed singly but sometimes in tetrads.

  • Discussion

    Lycopodium pallescens C. Presl, Reliq. Haenk. 1(1): 79. 1825. Type. Mexico. Haenke s.n. (PR; photo BM ).

    Lycopodium cuspidatum Link, Hort. Berol. 2: 161. 1833. Selaginella cuspidata (Link) Link, Fil. Spec. 158. 1841. Type. A cultivated plant, said to be from Mexico (presumably B).

    Selaginella cuspidata (Link) Link var. elongata Spring, Nouv. Me´m. Acad. Roy. Sci. Bruxelles 24: 67. 1850. Type. Guatemala. Collector not named (presumably LG).

    Unverified, Doubtful, or Mistaken Reports. Ags (De la Cerda & Garci´a 1232, HUAA, and 16 other collections, cited by Siqueiros- Delgado & Gonza´lez-Adame, 2004, but not verified). Qro (Ferna´ndez 3385, 3440, 3463, ENCB, and Rzedowski 44092, 46449, QMEX, all cited by Arregui´n et al., 2001, but not verified). This species exhibits extreme variation in habit and habitat, from caespitose to erect. See S. harrisii, S. polyptera, and S. pulcherrima for comparison with those species.P>

  • Distribution

    Terrestrial or on rocks in pine-oak forests, mesic woods; 50-2700 m. Mexico; Guat, Bel, Hond, Salv, Nic, CR, Pan; Col, Ven, Sur, Braz.

    Mexico North America| Brazil South America| Suriname South America| Venezuela South America| Colombia South America| Costa Rica South America| Nicaragua Central America| El Salvador Central America| Honduras Central America| Belize Central America| Guatemala Central America|