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Selaginella eremophila
Desert spikemoss is a small, mat-forming lycophyte from the deserts of the US Southwest and northern Mexico, grown mainly as a ground cover or rock-garden plant. It needs shade, consistent moisture and humidity to do well.
Selaginella eremophila is a species of spikemoss known by the common name desert spikemoss. It is native to the deserts and adjacent mountains around the intersection of California and Arizona with Baja California. It grows in sandy and rocky habitat. This lycophyte forms dense mats of spreading stems with small, forking branches. The lance-shaped leaves are up to 3 millimeters long on the lower stem surfaces and a little shorter on the upper sides. The tiny leaves have pointed tips with soft, twisted bristles. The strobili bearing the reproductive parts are under a centimeter 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 eremophila 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.
