Selaginella hansenii

Hansen's spike moss

Family: Selaginellaceae · Type: Spikemoss · Native

Hansen's spike moss is a native spikemoss found in southern North Coast Ranges Interior, Cascade Ranges, Sierra Nevada, Sutter Buttes, San Joaquin Valley, and northern South Coast Ranges in rocky outcrops and foothill woodland at elevations of 250 to 1,700 meters. Its distinctive appearance includes a sprawling mat with green foliage that ages to tan and gray, with some leaves showing red, pink-red, or red-streaked coloration. Growing in loosely spreading branches that are approximately pinnate, this spikemoss forms low-growing mats with leaves measuring 1 to 4.5 millimeters long. Its leaves feature lance-linear under-leaves and linear-deltate over-leaves, with small awns forming tufts at stem tips. Sparse cones measuring 4 to 8 millimeters long are produced at the plant's margins.

Habitat: Rocks of outcrops, river gorges, foothill woodland

Elevation: 250-1700 m

Bioregions: s NCoRI, CaR, SN, ScV (Sutter Buttes), SnJV, n SCoR.

California counties: Tehama, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yuba, El Dorado, Butte, Calaveras, Fresno, Mariposa, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Stanislaus, Sutter, Madera, Kern, Shasta, Merced, Monterey, Amador, Del Norte, San Luis Obispo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.