Ivesia lycopodioides
Club-moss ivesia
(c) Steve Matson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · licence
Family: Rosaceae · Type: Herb · Native
Ivesia lycopodioides (Club-moss ivesia) is a native California herb in the Rosaceae family.
Club-moss ivesia is a California native perennial found in alpine and subalpine meadows and rocky areas at high elevations. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces small yellow flowers approximately 6 to 12 millimeters wide in dense clusters 5 to 25 millimeters across. Growing with decumbent to erect green stems, it forms rosetted plants with a generally simple caudex. Its leaves have distinctive, densely overlapping leaflets with 4 to 10 lobes on each side, typically with one cauline leaf and ciliate sheathing bases. The tiny fruits are smooth and pale, measuring 1 to 1.5 millimeters in length.
Habitat and range
California counties: Mono, Fresno, Inyo, Tuolumne, Tulare
How to tell it apart
vs Achillea: Ivesia has rose-like flowers with separate petals; Achillea has composite flower heads with ray and disk flowers.; vs Potentilla: Ivesia has cylindrical bottlebrush leaves with 4-80 tiny leaflets per side; Potentilla has flat leaves with spread-out leaflets.; vs Horkelia: Ivesia has cylindrical leaves with overlapping leaflets; Horkelia has flat leaves with 2-15 distinct, separated leaflets.; vs Eremogone: Ivesia has compound bottlebrush leaves; Eremogone has simple, needle-like or thread-like leaves.; vs Cryptantha: Ivesia has rose-family flowers with separate petals; Cryptantha has fused tubular corollas typical of borages.
Frequently asked questions
Is Ivesia lycopodioides native to California?
Yes. Ivesia lycopodioides is native to California (recorded as native).
Where in California does Ivesia lycopodioides grow?
Ivesia lycopodioides occurs in Mono, Fresno, Inyo, Tuolumne, Tulare.
What plant family does Ivesia lycopodioides belong to?
Ivesia lycopodioides is in the Rosaceae family, genus Ivesia.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
Sources: Jepson eFlora · Index of California Plant Names · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-10-07
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.