Bayshore/ Southern Bog Clubmoss

COMMON NAME: Southern Bog Clubmoss

OTHER COMMON NAME(S):

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lycopodium appressum

FAMILY: Lycopodiaceae

COMMUNITY: Maritime Forest

STATUS: Native

LIFESPAN: Perennial

HEIGHT: 1 to 12 inch tufted stems

FLOWERING TIME: non-flowering

FRUITING TIME: lack fruit--produce spores-- mature late July to late October

DISTRIBUTION: Newfoundland to Florida, west to Texas ~ Throughout coastal plain in NJ, especially abundant in Pine Barrens, infrequent in northern NJ ~ Grows in moist, sandy depressions often in abandoned bogs

IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS: Stems flat, tufted ~ Leaves spirally arranged, lacking teeth, small (5-8 x 1-1.2 mm), lance, single mid-vein, sporophyll (spore-bearing leaf) similar to vegetative leaves ~ Spores sulfur-colored powder ~ Creeping long prostrate rhizomes near or on the surface bearing erect non-forked branches ~ Sprobili (inflorescence characterized by imbricated [partly overlapping] bracts or scales as a pine cone) less than 1/4 total height of erect stems

GENERAL INFORMATION: This family (Lycopodiaceae) is commonly called the Clubmoss family.  The name of this genus (Lycopodium) is from the Greek lycos, a wolf and pous meaning foot.  The leaves were thought to resemble the foot of a wolf. Many Clubmosses in tropical and sub-tropical areas grow on trees (epiphytes) and are much larger than those in temperate areas. Mosses are mostly small and are among the simplest land plants lacking highly developed tissue for conveying solutions up the stems.  Unlike the leaves of flowering plants, the leaves of mosses lack pores and atmospheric exchanges of gases takes place over the entire surface.  The delicate leaves require a relatively humid and pollution free atmosphere to function efficiently. In earlier times, Hawaiian Islanders used another moss in this genus (Lycopodium cernuum) to make a soothing water bath to treat arthritis. Club Moss (Lycopodium clavatum) has been used medically since the Middle Ages as a diuretic, sedative and antispasmodic.  It was used for treating chronic urinary complaints, indigestion and gastritis.  The spores were applied to the skin to relieve and protect itchy or irritated areas.

Please note: While harvesting wild berries/fruit is permitted at Island Beach State Park, visitors must adhere to park regulations at all times and must not damage vegetation or go off designated trails.  This information is presented for educational purposes.