Stats

Lifespan

Perennial

Size

Tiny

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Tropical rainforest

Range

Sub-Saharan Africa

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Spores

Defense

Camouflage

Status

Uncommon

About

This creeping moss grows across the damp, shaded forest floors of Africa and the Azores. It produces tiny, cone-like structures that launch microscopic spores into the air like dust.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Lycopodiopsida

Order

Selaginellales

Family

Selaginellaceae

Genus

Selaginella

Species

Selaginella kraussiana