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Selaginella watsonii
Also called Alpine Spikemoss, Great Basin Spikemoss
Watson's spikemoss is a small, mat-forming lycophyte (not a true moss or fern) native to rocky, often alpine, sites in the western United States. It grows best cool, moist and sheltered, and is more often admired in rock gardens or as a terrarium plant than grown as a standard houseplant.
Selaginella watsonii is a species of spikemoss known by the common name Watson's spikemoss. It is native to the western United States, where it grows in many rocky habitat types, including high mountain peaks in alpine climates. This lycophyte forms mats or cushions of short, forking stems. They are lined with linear or lance-shaped leaves no more than 4 millimeters long, often tipped with tiny bristles. The strobili containing the reproductive structures are 1 to 3 centimeters 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 watsonii 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.
