Stats

Lifespan

Perennial

Size

Tiny

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate forest

Range

North America

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Spores

Defense

Toxins

Status

Common

About

A creeping evergreen clubmoss whose flattened, fan-shaped side branches resemble tiny cedar sprays carpeting the forest floor. It spreads by underground rhizomes that can live for decades, sending up new fronds along the way.

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

Lycopodiales

Family

Lycopodiaceae

Genus

Diphasiastrum

Species

Diphasiastrum digitatum