#Dendrolycopodium dendroideum

[cedar-glade]

Dendrolycopodium dendroideum

An indicator that you no longer are looking at Diphasiastrum digitatum is that this fan club moss doesn’t form dense colonies by stolon and has many levels to it’s branching. The scales are no longer densely appressed in a terete form, instead they are open enough to glance at the ligules hiding in each scale with a hand lense. This species is much larger then Dendrolycopodium hickeyi, Jim Hickey’s fan club. Aside from that Dendrolycopodium spp. are known for a non stalked strobili. Dendrolycopodium hickeyi has many strobilii on average while this species seems to produce few. Another close look alike is a species called “rare club moss”, Lycopodium obscurum, which does have tree like branching but has specific hair like tips to it’s terminal scales. 

So, other clubmosses with cone-like strobili: Spinulum spp. = have stalkless strobili but lack tree-like branching, Lycopodium spp. = stalked strobili and pseudo-awl with hair-like tips, and Diphasiastrum spp.= stalked strobili and scale-like pseudo-awl super appressed with a terete form. Huperzia spp. are more snake like with their dichotomous branching being more distinguishable and overall- large.