You are here
Pteridophyte taxa known or reported from Sulawesi
Lycopodiaceae
EOL Text
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.
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Stats
Specimen Records: 299
Specimens with Sequences: 258
Specimens with Barcodes: 247
Species: 79
Species With Barcodes: 77
Public Records: 131
Public Species: 63
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lycopodiaceae. |
The Lycopodiaceae (class Lycopodiopsida, order Lycopodiales) are a family of primitive vascular plants, including all of the core clubmosses. These plants bear spores on specialized structures at the apex of a shoot; they resemble a tiny battle club, from which the common name derives. They are non-flowering and do not produce seeds.
The genera Huperzia, Phlegmariurus and Phylloglossum, the species of which were generally included in a more broadly defined Lycopodium in older classifications, are treated in the separate family Huperziaceae in some classifications, and are treated so here; they differ in producing spores in small lateral structures in the leaf axils. There is as yet no consensus on the recognition of Huperziaceae as a separate family; a more broadly defined Lycopodiaceae, including these genera, is still recognized in some classifications.
The species within this family generally have chromosome counts of n=34. A notable exception are the species in genus Diphasiastrum, which have counts of n=23.
Uses[edit]
- The running clubmosses (genus Diphasiastrum) have long been used as greenery for Christmas decoration.
- The spores have long been used as a flash powder. See Lycopodium powder.
- The spores have been used by violin makers for centuries as a pore filler.
- In Cornwall, club mosses gathered during certain lunar phases were historically used as a remedy for eye disease.
References and external links[edit]
- Thiselton-Dyer, Thomas F. (1889). The Folk-lore of Plants.
- Wagner, W. H. Jr. & J. M. Beitel. 1992. Generic classification of modern North American Lycopodiaceae. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 79: 676-686.
- Lycopodiaceae in Flora of North America (follows a broad circumscription of the family, including Huperziaceae)
This lycophyte-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Wikipedia |
Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lycopodiaceae&oldid=585656590 |
The family Huperziaceae is one of two families sometimes recognized in the order Lycopodiales, and contains two or three extant genera:
- Huperzia (temperate firmosses); 10-15 species; terrestrial.
- Phlegmariurus (tropical firmosses); about 300-400 species; often included in Huperzia; mainly epiphytes.
- Phylloglossum (Pygmy Clubmoss); formerly thought to be only distantly related to Huperzia. This is a terrestrial, grass-like plant with basal, 2-5 cm long, fleshy leaves. The only listed species is Phylloglossum drummondii.
The genera of Huperziaceae are included in the family Lycopodiaceae in several classifications (in fact older classifications included the species of Huperzia within Lycopodium) and there is as yet no consensus as to whether Huperziaceae should be recognized as a distinct family. The plants are distinct from those of Lycopodiaceae s.s. in having erect (not creeping) growth; and in its spore-bearing structures being produced in the axils of unmodified leaves, unlike the terminal club-like structure produced by species in the Lycopodiaceae. The family also has a basal chromosome count of n=67, versus counts of n=23, 34 in the Lycopodiaceae.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Wikipedia |
Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Huperziaceae&oldid=541136164 |