northern groundcedar

(Diphasiastrum complanatum)

Conservation Status
northern groundcedar
 
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

SNR - Unranked

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
Wetland Indicator Status
     
  Midwest

FACU - Facultative upland

     
  Northcentral & Northeast

FACU - Facultative upland

     
           
 
Description
 
 

Northern groundcedar is an erect, evergreen, perennial club moss. It produces sparingly-branched horizontal stems (rhizomes) from which rise erect, vertical shoots. Fibrous roots emerge from the underside of the horizontal stems.

The horizontal stems are green, 1 32 to 1 16 wide, and round in cross section. They appear on the surface of the ground, often shallowly buried under leaf litter. They are sparsely covered with tiny, scale-like leaves. Horizontal stem leaves are linear to narrowly lance-shaped, 1 16 to long, 1 32 to 1 16 wide, and appressed or slightly spreading. They taper to a point at the tip with straight sides along the tip.

Vertical stems can be 3 to 11 in height but are usually 4¾ to 8tall. They are 1 16 to ¼ in diameter, medium green, and sparsely covered with scale-like leaves. Vertical stem leaves are narrowly lance-shaped, 1 32 to long, 1 64 to 1 32 wide, and appressed or slightly spreading. They extend down the stem at the base and taper to a point at the tip with straight or concave sides along the tip. Each vertical stem has 2 to 5 lateral branches.

Lateral branches conspicuously broad, flattened, and held horizontally to the ground. They are irregularly divided into branchlets. Each of the branchlets are also divided. Eventually, the branches are divided successively usually 2 or 3 times but up to 5 times.

The branchlets are 1 16 to wide, flat in cross section, and held horizontally to the ground. They are abruptly and conspicuously narrowed (constricted) at the conjunction of successive years growth. The upper side is green, slightly shiny, and flat. The underside is pale green, dull, and flat. There are four column-like rows of leaves, one row along each edge and one row on each surface. Lateral leaves are linear lance-shaped, to ¼ long, 1 32 to 1 16 wide, and appressed. Upper side leaves are similar but smaller. Under side leaves are narrowly triangular-shaped and much smaller.

The reproductive structures (sporangia) are born in tight, cone-shaped structures (strobili). The strobili appear singly or in pairs, sometimes in clusters of 3 or 4, at the end of one or two stalks (peduncles) that rise from the tips of the vertical stems. The peduncles are forked at equal distances. The strobilus can be 516 to 1¼ long, but is usually to 1 long and 1 16 to wide. It is blunt at the tip and does not have a sterile tip. The leaf that bears the sporangium (sporophyll) is 1 16 to long and wide and broadly triangular to nearly heart-shaped. The sporangium is kidney-shaped.

 
     
 

Height

 
 

Usually 4¾ to 8

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Dry. Coniferous forests.

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Sporulation

 
 

July to October

 
     
 

Pests and Diseases

 
 

 

 
     
 
Use
 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

3, 4, 5, 7, 28, 29, 30.

 
  4/27/2022      
         
 

Nativity

 
 

Native

 
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Uncommon

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Plantae (green algae and land plants)  
  Subkingdom Viridiplantae (green plants)  
  Infrakingdom Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)  
  Superdivision Embryophyta (land plants)  
  Division Tracheophyta (vascular plants)  
  Subdivision Lycopodiophytina  
  Class Lycopodiopsida  
  Subclass Lycopodiidae  
 

Order

Lycopodiales (clubmosses and firmosses)  
 

Family

Lycopodiaceae (clubmosses and firmosses)  
  Subfamily Lycopodioideae  
 

Genus

Diphasiastrum (ground cedars)  
       
 

Club mosses in the genus Diphasiastrum readily crossbreed with other species in the same genus. The hybrids that are produced are fertile. Fertile hybrids are common in the animal kingdom but rare in the plant kingdom.

 
       
 

Subordinate Taxa

 
 

 

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Diphasium anceps

Diphasium complanatum

Diphasium complanatum ssp. montellii

Diphasium wallrothii

Lycopodium anceps

Lycopodium complanatum

Lycopodium complanatum ssp. anceps

Lycopodium complanatum var. canadense

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

Christmas green

creeping jenny

flat-branched club-moss

groundcedar

ground-cedar

northern running-pine

northern groundcedar

trailing ground-pine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Linear

Long, straight, and narrow, with more or less parallel sides, like a blade of grass.

 

Peduncle

In angiosperms, the stalk of a single flower or a flower cluster; in club mosses, the stalk of a strobilus or a group of strobili.

 

Rhizome

A horizontal, usually underground stem. It serves as a reproductive structure, producing roots below and shoots above at the nodes.

 

Sporangium

A spore bearing structure, as of a fern or moss.

 

Sporophyll

A modified leaf that bears one or more sporangia.

 

Sporulation

The process of forming spores.

 

Strobilus

A cone-like structure of horsetails (Equisetaceae) and clubmosses (Lycopodiaceae) composed of sporophylls densely arranged along a central axis.

 
 
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Habitat

 
    northern groundcedar   northern groundcedar  
           
 

Plant

 
    northern groundcedar   northern groundcedar  
           
 

Lateral Branches

 
    northern groundcedar      

 

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Other Videos
 
  Diphasiastrum complanatum i D. zeilleri w Gorcach.
PoznajBeskidy
 
   
 
About

Dec 15, 2018

Wspaniałe stanowisko rzadkiego widlicza spłaszczonego (Diphasiastrum complanatum) i widlicza Zeillera (Diphasiastrum zeilleri) na południowym stoku Bukowiny Obidowskiej (1039m n.p.m.) w Gorcach.

Google Translate: A magnificent stand of the rare flattened specters (Diphasiastrum complanatum) and Zeiller's specters (Diphasiastrum zeilleri) on the southern slope of Bukovina Obidowska (1039m above sea level) in Gorce.

 

 

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  Judy
4/26/2022

Location: Crow Wing St. Park

 
           
 
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