Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Lycopodiophyta
Class: Lycopodiopsida
Order: Lycopodiales
Family: Lycopodiaceae
Genus: Lycopodiella
Species: L. lateralis
Binomial name: Lycopodiella lateralis
Synonyms: Lycopodium laterale, Lycopodium consimilis, Lateristachys lateralis, Lepidotis lateralis.
Common name: Slender clubmoss.
Lycopodiella lateralis is a member of the genus Lycopodiella which are commonly called bog clubmosses, describing their wetland habitats such as coastal to montane in peat bogs, gumlands and other open, poorly drained shrublands.
It is indigenous to the North, South and Chatham Islands of New Zealand. It is also found in Australia and New Caledonia. It is common from Te Paki (the northernmost tip of the North Island) to the Waikato otherwise it is scarce in the North Island. It is present on Mt Egmont/Taranaki at an elevation of approx 1000 metres). In the South Island known from North-West Nelson to Westport. It common on Rekohu (Chatham Island) but scarce on Rangiauria (Pitt Island).
Main stems up to 200 mm or longer, rooting at intervals. Aerial stems up to 60 mm long, erect, rigid or somewhat flaccid. Branchlet systems scattered or grouped, erect or sometimes lax, 80-500 mm long, unbranched or branched once or twice. Sterile leaves densely spirally arranged, imbricate, spreading or recurved towards tips, linear-subulate to linear-lanceolate, 4-8 mm long, 0.5-0.7 mm wide, dull pale green, yellow-green to yellow, or reddish-brown bases decurrent. Strobili solitary, to 30 mm long, chocolate brown, erect, lateral on the main stem or terminal on short lateral branches, sessile. Sporophylls imbricate, ovate, acuminate, spreading at maturity, brown; margins lacerate to irregularly serrate. Description adapted from Chinnock (1998) and Brownsey & Smith-Dodsworth (2000).
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
