Selaginella, also known as spikemosses, are the horticultural version of punk rockers. Just as punk rockers are closely related to humans, spikemosses are closely allied to ferns, but split off as a deviant branch of the family tree some 400 million years ago. Unlike true mosses, spikemosses have a true vascular system and reproduce by spores. There has been significant instability in how to name spikemosses. Some authorities prefer to keep all 750 species in the same genus, Selaginella, while others propose dividing the genus into three genera: Bryodesma, Lycopodioides, and Selaginella. We’ll stick with Selaginella until the taxonomic spat ends.
Below is our patch of the Southeast US native, Selaginella arenicola ‘Horry Frost’ in late July. We grow it in full sun, in our gravel-based rock garden, where it thrives near cactus and agaves. In periods of drought it shrivels and turns brown only to rehydrate and spring back to life when the rains arrive.
