Lycopodium obscurum ground pine; tree clubmoss Lycopodiaceae LYOB; Q; R, bd, gb, h, ro, t;

 

Lycopodium obscurum.R.A. Howard, hosted by the USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database

Lycopodium obscurum.R.A. Howard, hosted by the USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database (Accessed 1/2015).

Lycopodium obscurum is an evergreen perennial clubmoss, colonial from deep underground stems (rhizomes), leafy stems erect, to 20 cm tall, tree-like, dark green, branches with a slender, bottle-brush appearance. 

Lycopodium obscurum. Underside_Closeup_of_lateral_branch.. commons.wikimedia.og (Accessed 4/2017).

Lycopodium obscurum. Underside_Closeup_of_lateral_branch.. commons.wikimedia.og (Accessed 4/2017).

Leaves tiny, scale-like, overlapping, in 6-8 ranks, about 0.5 cm long, 0.1 cm wide, numerous, sharp-pointed. 

Spore cones yellow, 2-7 cm long, about 0.6 cm wide, in a candelabra-like arrangement above foliage; spores produced July-Sept. (Radford et al. 1968). 

Lycopodium obscurum strobilus_closed. © 2004 Gary Fewless. Ferns and Fern Allies of Wisconsin. Corfrin Center for Biodiversity. University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. uwgb.edu

Lycopodium obscurum strobilus_closed. © 2004 Gary Fewless. Ferns and Fern Allies of Wisconsin. Corfrin Center for Biodiversity. University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. uwgb.edu (Accessed 11/2017).

Wetland status: FACU. 

Frequency in NYC: Infrequent. 

Origin: Native. 

Habitat: Undisturbed, moist woods, swamp forest edges. Appears more shade tolerant and requiring more moisture than L. digitatum. 

Notes: See  Diphasiastrum digitatum. Lycopodiums cannot be successfully transplanted or propagated for restoration to natural areas (Montgomery and Fairbrothers 1992). Habitat protection is the only means of conserving these plants. 

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