Participant Info

Species

Selaginella densa [Bryodesma densum] Selaginella rupestris var. densa] [Selaginella engelmannii]

Family

Selaginellaceae

CommonName

lesser spikemoss, prairie spikemoss, Rocky Mountain spikemoss, Rocky Mountain clubmoss

Presence

yes

Status

native

EarliestDate

1935

LatestDate

2023

Ecosystem

basin, foothill, montane, subalpine, tundra

Geobotanical

SSawatch, Garitas, SSanjuans, Culebras, NCristos, LBasin

Counties

Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Hinsdale, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache, San Juan

Passes

Elwood, Grayback, Mosca, Spring Creek, Wolf Creek

WildlifePreserves

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

Comments

NEED IN SITU PHOTOS. Rocky Mountain spikemoss has been commonly recorded around the Watershed, but much more so in the western ranges. Selaginella densa takes root in an impressive variety of habitats, from grassy slopes to outcrops and cliffs to tundra fellfields. Note that the one Lower Basin occurrence was located in the San Luis Hills (Conejos Co, 2014). In the USA, the species centers in the Rocky Mountains, from Canada to Mexico, and as well as the western Great Plains of the Dakotas. It follows the Rio Grande drainage through New Mexico, with only a few rare occurrences farther down stream in Texas. Despite their common names (spikemoss, clubmoss), Seliginella spp. are not true mosses.

Annotation