About 950 species occur,[citation needed] with 37 species widely distributed in temperate and tropical

climates, though they are confined to mountains in the tropics.

Lycopodium clavatum is a spore-bearing vascular plant, growing mainly prostrate along the ground
with stems up to 1 m (39 in) long; the stems are much branched, and densely clothed with small,
spirally arranged leaves. The leaves are 35 mm long and 0.71 mm broad, tapered to a fine hairlike white point. The branches bearing spore cones turn erect, reaching 515 cm (2.05.9 in) above
ground, and have fewer leaves than the horizontal branches. The spore cones are yellow-green, 2
3 cm (0.791.18 in) long, and 5 mm (0.20 in) broad. The horizontal stems produce roots at frequent
intervals along their length, allowing the stem to grow indefinitely along the ground. The stems
superficially resemble small seedlings of coniferous trees, though it is not related to these.
Lycopodium obscurum is known for the superficial resemblance of its sporophyte to various conifers.
However, its above-ground parts are rarely more than 15 cm (6 inches) tall. Its main stem is actually
a subterranean, creeping rhizome, which grows about 6 cm (2.4 inches) below ground. Several
aerial shoots branch off of the rhizome, which also branch dichotomously several times, giving L.
obscurum its distinctive appearance. Fertile shoots possess sessile strobili, borne at the tops of their
main axes and sometimes at the tips of dominant lateral branches. The leaves are microphylls, each
containing only a single vein and measuring less than 1 cm (0.4 inches) long. Two types of
microphylls are formed, green trophophylls that cover most of the aerial shoots, and yellow to
tan sporophylls that form the strobili, and contain the sporangia. L.
obscurum reproduces sexually via spores and also vegetatively, through its rhizome.[10]
The gametophyte of L. obscurum is disc shaped prothallus,[11] measuring an average of 1.5 cm (0.6
inches) in diameter.[12] It closely resembles other gametophytes of genus Lycopodium, so it cannot be
identified by gametophyte alone. Doing so would be difficult nonetheless, as this type of
gametophyte grows only underground, years after a disturbance has taken place. [12] Therefore, the
compact soil caused by repeated human traffic would disturb these areas, causing L.
obscurum spores not to germinate and existing gametophyes to be damaged or killed.
Diphasiastrum digitatum is known as groundcedar, running cedar or crowsfoot, along with
other members of its genus, but the common name fan clubmoss can be used to refer to it
specifically. It is the most common species of Diphasiastrum in North America. It is a type of plant
known as a clubmoss, which is within one of the three main divisions of living vascular plants. It was
formerly included in the superspecies Diphasiastrum complanatum. For many years, this species
was known as Lycopodium flabelliforme or Lycopodium digitatum.[2][3]
Its common name is due to its resemblance to cedar boughs lying on the ground. Its leaves are
scale-like and appressed, like a mature cedar, and it is glossy and evergreen. It normally grows to a
height of about four inches (10 cm), with the spore-bearing strobili held higher. This plant was once
widely harvested and sold as Christmas greenery, and populations were widely depleted for this
reason. However, it has greatly recovered throughout its range, and makes large clonal colonies,
carpeting the forest floor.[4]
It prefers disturbed areas and coniferous forests, where it makes dense monocultures. The
subterranean, brown gametophytes may live for years in the soil before sending forth vegetative
shoots. According to expert sources its range is in the higher Appalachian mountains northward, and
its range ends in northern Georgia and Alabama, but isolated stands have sprung up elsewhere.

In the Appalachian Mountains of Southwest Virginia, the plant is known locally as "Bear's Paw."
This species was also once one of the principal clubmoss species used for collection of Lycopodium
powder, used as a primitive flashpowder.

Lycopodiella is a genus in the clubmoss family Lycopodiaceae. The genus members are commonly
called bog clubmosses, describing their wetland habitat. There are 38 species; the distribution
is cosmopolitan, with centres of diversity in the tropical New World and New Guinea. In the past, the
genus was often incorporated within the related genus Lycopodium.
Lycopodiella inundata is a species of club moss known by the common names inundated club
moss,[1] marsh clubmoss[2] and northern bog club moss. It has
a circumpolar and circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout the northern Northern Hemisphere
from the Arctic to montane temperate regions in Eurasia and North America. It grows in wet habitat,
such as bogs, ponds, moist spots on the tundra, and longstanding borrow pits. It is a small plant
forming patches on the ground, its leafy sterile stems branching and lying horizontal along the
ground and fertile conebearing stems erect a few centimeters high. The leaves are curving, green,
narrow, and sharply pointed, measuring a few millimeters long.
Huperzia is a genus of Lycophyte plants, sometimes known as the firmosses or fir clubmosses.
This genus was originally included in the related genus Lycopodium, from which it differs in having
undifferentiated sporangial leaves, and the sporangia not formed into apical cones. The common
name firmoss, used for some of the north temperate species, refers to their superficial resemblance
to branches of fir (Abies), a conifer. In Australia, the epiphytic species are commonly known
as tassel ferns.
The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with about 400 species. Some botanists however
split Huperzia into two genera, Huperzia in the narrow sense including 10-15 species of terrestrial
temperate to Arctic species, and the rest in Phlegmariurus, a primarily tropical to subtropical genus
of mainly epiphytic species. Huperzia and its relatives are included in the family Huperziaceae in
some classifications, or alternatively in a more broadly defined Lycopodiaceae in others.
The plants of this genus generally have radial ranks of entire, linear to lanceolate
evergreen leaves and dichotomously-branched (forking) vegetative stems. The sporesare borne in
kidney-shaped sporangia borne individually on the stem at the bases of unmodified leaves.
Unlike clubmosses, firmosses grow in clusters rather than running. The roots are produced in the
tips of the shoots, growing downward in cortex to emerge at soil level. Horizontal stems are absent.
Huperzia appressa (common name, Appalachian firmoss) is a non-flowering plant in
the Lycopodiaceae. It has been reported from the United States, Canada, China, Russia, and
several European countries. It is a terrestrial plant up to 10 cm tall, with dichotomously branched
stems.[1][2]
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 sporebearing 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.

Phylloglossum drummondii
Description A small, colonial lycopod, up to 7 cm tall. There are usually less than 10
leaves, which are tufted at the top of the tuber, often forming a rosette. They are 12 cm long, narrow, pointed at the tip and circular in cross section. A slender leafless
stalk, up to 4 cm, arises from the center of the rosette and terminates in a strobilus,
which contains the spores (description from Duncan & Isaac 1986). Herbarium
specimens have been collected from August to November.