Selaginellaceae
Selaginella Or Small Club Moss Family
The Selaginellaceae family (Selaginella Or Small Club Moss Family) is a botanical family placed in the order Selaginellales. In the SASYA catalogue it spans 3 species. Its members are predominantly herbs.
Browse all 3 species ↓
Small, moss-like creeping or mat-forming herbs with tiny scale-like leaves densely covering thin branching stems; reproduction is by spores held in small cone-like structures (strobili) at the branch tips, produced in two different sizes rather than one uniform type.
Unlike true ferns and mosses, this family produces two distinct spore sizes — larger 'megaspores' and smaller 'microspores' — an early evolutionary step on the path that eventually led to the seed.
Which Selaginellaceae species is this?
Answer what you can see and narrow it down to a single Selaginellaceae species.
To check whether a plant belongs to Selaginellaceae, compare the leaf arrangement, leaf type, flower symmetry, fruit type, and one distinctive marker together. A single feature can mislead; the family pattern is the combination.
Learn the full family-identification methodTypical leaf characters
- ArrangementVariable
TypeSimple- MarginVariable
- VenationVariable
Characters typical of the family — individual species can vary.
Families that can look similar
Amaranthaceae
Compare against Amaranthaceae when the plant shares similar leaves, flowers, or fruit. Confirm by checking the full family pattern.
Compare AmaranthaceaeCombretaceae
Compare against Combretaceae when the plant shares similar leaves, flowers, or fruit. Confirm by checking the full family pattern.
Compare CombretaceaeGentianaceae
Compare against Gentianaceae when the plant shares similar leaves, flowers, or fruit. Confirm by checking the full family pattern.
Compare GentianaceaeCelastraceae
Compare against Celastraceae when the plant shares similar leaves, flowers, or fruit. Confirm by checking the full family pattern.
Compare CelastraceaeAll 3 species in SELAGINELLACEAE
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