Selaginella asprella

Plants on rock or terrestrial, forming cushionlike or loose mats. Stems decumbent to short-creeping, dry stem readily fragmenting, irregularly forking, without budlike arrested branches, tips straight; main stem upperside and underside structurally slightly different, inconspicuously indeterminate, lateral branches radially symmetric, determinate or not, often strongly ascending on cushionlike mats, 1–2-forked. Rhizophores borne on upperside of stems, throughout stem length, 0.2–0.4 mm diam. Leaves monomorphic, in alternate pseudowhorls of 4, tightly appressed, ascending, green, narrowly triangular-lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, (2–)2.5–4 × 0.45–0.7(–0.8) mm (smaller on young buds); abaxial ridges present; base cuneate and decurrent or sometimes rounded and adnate on young buds, pubescent (hairs often covering 1/4 of leaf length abaxially); margins ciliate, cilia transparent to whitish, spreading, 0.7–0.15 mm; apex keeled, attenuate or obtuse, bristled; bristle white or transparent, puberulent, 0.5–1.4 mm. Strobili solitary, 0.4–1.5(–2) cm; sporophylls lanceolate and strongly tapering to apex or deltate-ovate to ovate-lanceolate, abaxial ridges moderately defined, base pubescent or glabrous, margins short-ciliate to dentate, apex keeled or plane, bristled.

Habitat: Limestone ridges, dry rocky slopes, igneous rock, exposed cliffs or gravelly soil
Elevation: 900–2700 m

Distribution

• Generated Map
• Legacy Map

Calif., Mexico in Baja California.

Discussion

Selaginella asprella may be confused with S. leucobryoides particularly because of its readily fragmenting stems.

Of conservation concern.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.