My DH & I were in the Cook Forest area of PA the end of December and we were doing some Geocaching. We were hunting for this one cache... the area was covered with this great green ground cover under a canopy of trees which in the summer would be in dense shade, at a quick glance reminded me up little pine trees. I have been trying for a while now to find out what it was... and just learned yesterday it's Lycopodium obscurum, Ground Pine. The stand I saw was stunning and huge, hundreds of feet by hundreds of feet across.
Sorry I don't have my own picture but do a Google search and you will see some great shots
This web page had some great info on it: http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/ferns/lycopodobs.html
Is anyone familiar with this?
This message was edited Mar 2, 2007 8:54 AM
Lycopodium obscurum, Ground Pine
Ah Yes!!! Lycopodiums are my favorite plants followed closely by Selaginella and then the mosses!!
I have been fortunate enough to have obtained some L. obscurum and am currently growing some in pots. I am experimenting with it and have just a few days ago repotted one plant into a shallower plastic container that held Las Palmas taco meat filling. Here is an image of the roots or rather rhizomes.
I really am shooting in the dark on growing the lycopodiums as I have no idea how these species, apart from Lycopodiella inundata, grows and am wondering about the kind of soil, the depth of the rhizomes, etc. My only source is the Root Book by Ms. Carl Phillips-if only I can find where I put it!!!
So with my experiments I am guessing more towards a growing media that is shallow, well draining, stays moist not wet, and is basically humus. I am using a blend of cypress mulch and maple leaves in my latest experiment.
JerryC,
This just shows that I can pick up and look at a book 100 times and still not see it all. The fern book I love is 'Ferns for American Gardens by John Mickel. Interesting things I am learning, I quote from Mickel's book:
"...The presence of special fungi in the roots of most terrestrial species and the soil around them that is necessary for proper nutrition and growth of the plants makes them difficult to transplant successfully, so they are not recommended for cultivation. Some species do not require that fungus and are thus more adaptable to transplanting and cultivation. These include L. lucidulum and L.obscurum, but even with these species, the success rate is very low'.....conditions needes are light, well-drained, highly acidic soil (PH 4 - 4.5 ----a growing mix might include three parts silica sand, two parts leaf mold and/or peat moss), constant moisture, preferably not alternate freezing and thawing during winter, and a cool place out of direct sunlight. Some potted plants of L.lucidulum and L. selago can be grown under artificial light."
L. ovscurum (this information is also from the same book)
Stems: 8-10' tall, erect, evergreen
Availability: infrequent
Hardiness Z: 2-6
Ease of Cultivation: Moderate to difficult
The rhizone is long-creeping, 1"-2" below the ground, sending up erect, treelike branches. The leaves are dark green and needle like, one eighth to one quarter inch long, mostly lying flat along the branches in six rows. The cones are one to two inches long and without a stalk. L. obscurum occurs in moist evergreen or deciduous woods and bogs in Northern North America.
I hope this information is helpful to you.
The hugh patch I found was on a North facing slope of a hill under dense trees. It was beautiful!
Shadyfolks
Thank you Shadyfolks for the information.
I have printed out the page. I have a few other species that I aim to repot and reduce the depth of the soil mix they are in. Mostly just bark. I am starting to think that they really like it more dry than wet, just moist but coolness is important even in summer. I aim to do a web journal on them sometime but am currently swamped with that kind of work: 1 in progress on NA native Selaginellas, 1 on the mosses I am growing, and 1 on images of South African bryophytes and Lycopsida (Lycopodium and Selaginella) which I aim to really push on over this week-end.
The idea of a symbiotic relationship with a fungus is similar to that of orchids. I find myself wondering if this relationship is restricted to fungal breakdown of nutrients for absorption by the club moss or if actual penetration of the rhizomes of the club moss occurs??
Definitely a lot to learn!!!
wow, you really like to go in depth, I think that is great, amazing what goes on in this world that we can't see...I wish you well with your journals I will be eager to see them. By the way I too like the selaginellas, but I am restricted as not many are hardy in Z5.
Shady
There are several native Selaginellas that do well in your zone plus some from Asia. Plus several Lycopodiums!!
Here is one that is a Siberian species that will do well in your part of the country outside, prob. in a sheltered spot like a scree.
Selaginella sanguinolenta compressa > http://jcsplitimage.topcities.com/mfp1.html
JerryC
Interesting website you have going there. That must take a lot of time
Shady
Shadyfolks,
Thanks. Not really. It used to when I was using only html coding to prepare the
pages but once I hit on the idea of preparing the pages using jpeg documents then it became both easier and much more interesting. Programming in html can become boring!@!@! but developing a jpeg document is very interesting and much more flexible.
All I needed on the html is the basic formatted page that is the part with the
permission to copy etc. So it only takes one line of programming to post the bulk of the page.
some pages will be a mix of jpeg documents and html, which will be illustrated by the selaginella journal I am working on.
I personally think it is so important as I do not see it anywhere else unless it is available on those pay-to-look sites.
the Moss Flora journal gives a look at a plant that most people have never really seen, Selaginella sanguinolenta, and even a close up at mosses that are not even noticed. It is like exploring a new world and hopefully I hope that everyone who dares make that trek will find something that is of interest. and that will add a level of awareness to the world they encounter!!! especially this.
so the time is well spent even though I know that mine is running out!!!
As was said in a Highlander movie: I would rather burn out than fade away!
Would this be the same thing that can be found in my area that we call Princess Pine? I've seen it out in the woods at a friend's, but I don't have it near me. I just love it, and was surprised that it was a type of moss.
Princess pine (from the pictures I found on Google) looks like it's in the Lycopodium family now if it's the same or different I haven't a clue.
"Princess pine" is a name used for several species of Lycopodium, including L. obscurum.
Worth mentioning also that these are not mosses. They're called club-mosses, but, as is so often the case with common names, that doesn't mean they have anything to do with mosses.
Lycopodium digitatum forms nice large colonies, too, in Indiana. It usually does this under juniper.
Patrick Alexander
Ah hah! I continue to learn. I should have known that a club-moss was not actually a moss. So, does that mean that they don't belong in this forum? Can we keep them here anyway? I don't think that they'd be happy over with the really big guys in Conifers.
Apologies if I'm getting too silly. I'll blame it on the cold meds.
Well, they're just club-mosses... they aren't conifers, either, and nor are they clubs, as it would happen.
In the absence of a club-moss forum, this seems as good a place as any.
Patrick Alexander
Hi Patrick.
he Selaginellas, Lycopodiums and all of their genera, the Psilotum, and I think there is something else I forgot are called Fern Allies. So this forum is perfect for them.
Here is an image of Psilotum
Yes, Selaginella & Lycopodium are called "fern allies"; but they aren't closely related to ferns, either! (Psilotum, on the other hand, is a fern.)
Patrick Alexander