''Lycopodiella inundata'' is a species of

club moss Lycopodiopsida is a class of vascular plants known as lycopods, lycophytes or other terms including the component lyco-. Members of the class are also called clubmosses, firmosses, spikemosses and quillworts. They have dichotomously branching s ...

known by the common names inundated club moss, marsh clubmoss and northern bog club moss. It has a

circumpolar Circumpolar may refer to: * Antarctic region ** Antarctic Circle ** the Antarctic Circumpolar Current ** Subantarctic ** List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands ** Antarctic Convergence ** Antarctic Circumpolar Wave ** Antarctic Ocean * Arctic ...

and

circumboreal The Circumboreal Region in phytogeography is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom in Eurasia and North America, as delineated by such geobotanists as Josias Braun-Blanquet and Armen Takhtajan. It is the largest floristic region in t ...

distribution, occurring throughout the northern Northern Hemisphere from the Arctic to montane temperate regions in Eurasia and North America. It grows in wet habitat, such as

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...

s, moist spots on the

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless moun ...

, and long-standing

borrow pit Digging, also referred to as excavation, is the process of using some implement such as claws, hands, manual tools or heavy equipment, to remove material from a solid surface, usually soil, sand or rock on the surface of Earth. Digging is actuall ...

Description

It is a small plant forming patches on the ground, its leafy sterile stems branching and lying horizontal along the ground, rooting at intervals. The sporing cone-bearing stems stand erect in July and August, a few centimeters tall. The leaves are curving, green, narrow, and sharply pointed, measuring a few millimeters long.

Distribution and habitat

This club moss is an arctic-alpine species with a circumpolar boreal and montane distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. It mostly occurs in Europe, but is also present in East Asia and North America. In the British Isles it is classified as a UK Priority Species as it is rare and seems to be on the decline. It occurs in Scotland and the western fringes of England and Wales, and at scattered locations elsewhere. Nevertheless, it can increase rapidly when the conditions are right, as happened at

Llyn Cwm-y-ffynnon Llyn Cwm-y-ffynnon is a lake in Snowdonia, below the summit of Moel Berfedd in Cwmffynnon. The lake's original name was Fynnon Mymbyr as outlined in Llywelyn ap Iorwerth's charter of 1198. As the name suggests, the lake nestles in a short vall ...

in Wales on bare peat substrates uncolonised by other plants because of winter inundation, cattle poaching and peat cutting. It occurs at a few locations across Ireland and at one single location in Northern Ireland, at Peatlands Park in

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...

, and because of its rarity, it is listed as a Northern Ireland Priority Species.

References

External links

*
Jepson Manual Treatment
*

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q899476 Lycopodiaceae Flora of England Flora of the United States Flora of Saint Pierre and Miquelon