firmoss
fir clubmoss
huperzia latin

The common name firmoss, used for some of the north temperate species, refers to their superficial resemblance to branches of fir (Abies), a conifer.

Huperzia australiana is a species of small terrestrial plant, a firmoss or tassel fern, in the Lycopodiaceae (clubmoss) family.

Huperzia megastachya is a species of firmoss (genus Huperzia) found exclusively in Madagascar.

It is often confused with the Shining firmoss (Huperzia lucidula) whose range it largely shares and which also often grows on rocks.

Huperzia lucidula, shining firmoss or shining clubmoss, is a bright evergreen, rhizomatous clubmoss of the genus Huperzia.

Huperzia selago, Northern firmoss or Fir Clubmoss, is a plant in the genus Huperzia in family Huperziaceae.

The Shining firmoss ranges in Canada from Manitoba to Newfoundland, and south into the United States to Missouri and the Carolinas.

The rock firmoss leaves, 3-8 mm long, are generally not shiny like those of the Shining firmoss, and the ascending 12-15 cm stems are seldom branched.

Huperzia porophila, Rock firmoss, grows throughout the Appalachian province of the Eastern United States, but is rare east of the Appalachians, being most common in a north-south belt along the western plateau area.

This group includes the genus Huperzia, such as the Shining firmoss, Huperzia lucidula, the Rock firmoss, Huperzia porophila, and the Northern firmoss, Huperzia selago.

The genera 'Firmoss', 'Firmoss' and 'Phylloglossum', the species of which were generally included in a more broadly defined 'Lycopodium' in older classifications, are treated in the separate family Huperziaceae in some classifications; they differ in producing spores in small lateral structures in the leaf axils.

Within a few yards of the summit you can find fir clubmoss huperzia selago, and mountain azalea loiseleuria procumbens, both delightful finds for the plant hunter.

Growing amongst the rocks of the volcanic mountains are rare species such as Cheddar Pink, Sweet William Catchfly, Oblong Woodsia and Fir Clubmoss.

Cliffs and mountains host a diversity of arctic and alpine plants including Alpine Pearlwort, Mossy Cyphal, Mountain Avens and Fir Clubmoss.

However, as the cladogram above shows, it is closely related to the genus Huperzia.

Huperzia ascendens.

Huperzia x bartleyi (N)

Huperzia porophila (N)

The genera Diphasiastrum, Lycopodiella and Huperzia were once included within this genus, but are now recognized as being distinct.

Phylloglossum (Pygmy Clubmoss); formerly thought to be only distantly related to Huperzia.

Huperzine A is a naturally occurring sesquiterpene alkaloid compound found in the firmoss Huperzia serrata.

Clubmosses (Lycopodiaceae) - Mountain Clubmoss (Huperzia selago)

Within a few yards of the summit you can find fir clubmoss huperzia selago, and mountain azalea loiseleuria procumbens, both delightful finds for the plant hunter.

Huperzia lucidula, shining firmoss or shining clubmoss, is a bright evergreen, rhizomatous clubmoss of the genus Huperzia.

Huperzia selago, Northern firmoss or Fir Clubmoss, is a plant in the genus Huperzia in family Huperziaceae.

Lycophytes, where sporophylls may be aggregated into strobili (Selaginella and some Lycopodium and related genera) or distributed singly among sterile leaves (Huperzia and segregate genera).

This group includes the genus Huperzia, such as the Shining firmoss, Huperzia lucidula, the Rock firmoss, Huperzia porophila, and the Northern firmoss, Huperzia selago.

The genera of Huperziaceae are included in the family Lycopodiaceae in several classifications (in fact older classifications included the species of Huperzia within Lycopodium) and there is as yet no consensus as to whether Huperziaceae should be recognized as a distinct family.

Some botanists however split Huperzia into two genera, Huperzia in the narrow sense including 10-15 species of terrestrial temperate to Arctic species, and the rest in Phlegmariurus, a primarily tropical to subtropical genus of mainly epiphytic species.