The club moss is not a moss since it is vascular mosses are non-vascular bryophytes. Members of this group of plants included tree lycopods of the extinct genus Lepidodendron that were up to 100 feet in height whose deposition and decay during the Carboniferous Period engendered the world’s major coal fields.

Potpourri: Club mosses are the vestigial relict of the earliest land plants which evolved in the Devonian Period about 395 million years ago. The specific name is from the Latin clava meaning club which accentuates the club-like extensions.

Scientific Name: Lycopodium clavatum – The generic name is from the Greek words lukos meaning wolf and podos meaning foot the tips of the branches are reminiscent of a wolf’s paw. Club moss with the spore-bearing clubs extended aboveĬommon Name: Club Moss, Running pine, Staghorn club moss, Wolf’s claw club moss, Ground pine, Running moss, Princess pine – The common name describes the club-like appendages at the end of a long stalk that extends upward from the moss-like basal plant, the overall effect is a moss with clubs.

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