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Selaginella cinerascens
Also called Ashy Spike Moss, Ashy Spikemoss, Mesa Spike Moss
Mesa spikemoss is a small, mat-forming spikemoss (lycophyte, not a true moss) native to dry clay soils in Baja California and San Diego County, California. Grow it as a low ground cover in dry, well-drained, sunny or lightly shaded sites, and keep it off soggy soil.
Selaginella cinerascens is a species of spikemoss known by the common names mesa spikemoss, gray spikemoss, and ashy spikemoss. It is native to Baja California as well as some locations just north of the border in San Diego County, California. It grows in dry habitat, often on clay soil, both in open areas and in the shade of larger plants. This lycophyte forms mats of spreading, forking stems up to 18 centimeters long. The plant is often gray or brown in color, forming a dull-colored carpet on the substrate. The linear or lance-shaped leaves are 1 to 3 millimeters long and lack bristles at the tips. The leaves are green when new or moist. They are flattened to the stem or stick out just a little. The strobili borne at the leaf bases are yellow in color and no more than 4 to 5 millimeters long.
Meadow spikemoss · Sand spikemoss · Arizona spikemoss · Bluish spikemoss · Selaginella australiensis · Selaginella bifida · Selaginella biformis · Bushy spikemoss · Selaginella brisbanensis · Selaginella bryopteris · Selaginella carinata · Selaginella ciliaris
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Selaginella cinerascens by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
