Lycopodiaceae

Lycopodiaceae (Clubmosses)
Lycopodium annotinum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Lycopodiophyta
Class:	Lycopodiopsida
Order:	Lycopodiales
Family:	Lycopodiaceae
Genera
Austrolycopodium Dendrolycopodium Diphasium Diphasiastrum Lycopodiella Lycopodium Palhinhaea Pseudolycopodiella Pseudolycopodium

The Lycopodiaceae (class Lycopodiopsida, order Lycopodiales) is a family of primitive vascular plants, including all of the core clubmosses. These plants bear spores on specialized structures at the apex of a shoot; they resemble a tiny battle club, from which the common name derives. They are non-flowering and do not produce seeds.

The genera Huperzia, Phlegmariurus 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, and are treated so here; they differ in producing spores in small lateral structures in the leaf axils. There is as yet no consensus on the recognition of Huperziaceae as a separate family; a more broadly defined Lycopodiaceae, including these genera, is still recognized in some classifications.

The species within this family generally have chromosome counts of n=34. A notable exception are the species in genus Diphasiastrum, which have counts of n=23.

Uses

• The running clubmosses (genus Diphasiastrum) have long been used as greenery for Christmas decoration.
• The spores have long been used as a flash powder. See Lycopodium powder.
• The spores have been used by violin makers for centuries as a pore filler.
• In Cornwall, club mosses gathered during certain lunar phases were historically used as a remedy for eye disease.

References and external links

• Thiselton-Dyer, Thomas F. (1889). The Folk-lore of Plants. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10118. 
• Wagner, W. H. Jr. & J. M. Beitel. 1992. Generic classification of modern North American Lycopodiaceae. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 79: 676-686.
• Lycopodiaceae in Flora of North America (follows a broad circumscription of the family, including Huperziaceae)