Lycopodiaceae - Clubmoss family

 

Description of the family

Epiphytic, lithophytic or terrestrial perennials. Stems erect, creeping or pendulous, sometimes elongated, dichotomously branched, bearing a few freshly dichotomously branched roots in a basal tuft, or irregularly along a creeping main stem. Leaves herbaceous to coriaceous, simple, spirally arranged or in irregular whorls with a single vein and without ligules. Sporophylls uniform, scale-like or leaf-like, sometimes similar to the foliage leaves; at other times arranged in cones (strobili). Sporangia borne in the axils of the sporophylls, solitary, 1-locular.

Worldwide: A family with a near cosmopolitan distribution, 4 genera and c. 400 species.

 

Genera

  • Huperzia Bernh.
  • Lycopodiella Holub
  • Lycopodium L.
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    Literature

  • Crouch, N.R., Klopper, R.R., Burrows, J.E. & Burrows, S.M.2011Ferns of Southern Africa, A comprehensive guide. Struik Nature.
  • Jacobsen, W.B.G.1983The Ferns and Fern Allies of Southern Africa. Butterworths, Durban and Pretoria.
  • Roux, J.P.2001Conspectus of Southern African Pteridophyta. Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report, 13: 1-222.
  • Schelpe, E.A.C.L.E.1970Pteridophyta. Flora Zambesiaca, 0: 1-254.

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