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Selaginella kraussiana
Also called Krauss' Spikemoss, Kraus's Clubmoss, Krauss's Spike Moss, Krauss's Club Moss, Garden Selaginella, Mat Spike Moss, Spreading Club Moss
Krauss's clubmoss is a low, mat-forming evergreen that is not a true fern but a clubmoss, grown for its lacy foliage. It thrives in humid, shaded conditions with moist but well-drained soil.
Selaginella kraussiana is a species of vascular plant in the family Selaginellaceae. It is referred to by the common names Krauss' spikemoss, Krauss's clubmoss, or African clubmoss, and is found naturally in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa and in Macaronesia. It is sometimes given the misnomer of "peacock fern", due to its lacy leaf structure, despite having no relation to actual ferns; rather, it belongs to the very ancient lineage of plants known as the clubmosses.
Selaginella kraussiana is cultivated for ornamental purposes. It requires a minimum temperature of 5 °C (41 °F), and in temperate regions is grown under glass as a houseplant. The species and the cultivar 'Brownii' have both gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Other cultivars include 'Aurea' and 'Gold Tips'. They prefer a sheltered spot, in full or partial shade. They require potting media that retains humidity while not staying overly wet, and drains quickly. An acidic to neutral pH (6.0–7.0) is preferable.
In the winter, a cultivar often referred to as Selaginella kraussiana 'Frosty Fern' is sold as a house plant due to its white-tipped foliage; however, this is more often the taller-growing Selaginella martensii, not the shorter, creeping S. kraussiana.
Its native distribution is the Macaronesia, and parts of south and east Africa. Its native distribution in the Azores was controversial up until 2005, when spores of this species were discovered in 6,000-year-old fossils on Pico. Since its introduction to Britain in 1878 it has spread slowly, and was first recorded in the wild in 1917 in west Cornwall (UK) and County Leitrim (Ireland), often as a greenhouse weed.
Meadow spikemoss · Selaginella bryopteris · Lesser spikemoss · Flower of stone · Gemmiferous Spikemoss · Lesser Clubmoss · Blue spikemoss · Willdenow's spikemoss · Spikemoss
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Selaginella kraussiana 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.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
