Staghorn Clubmoss
Lycopodium clavatum
A clubmoss, not a moss — a spore-bearing lycophyte from a lineage older than the flowering plants. Long trailing stems creep across acidic forest floor, sending up bristly upright shoots topped by pale candelabra of spore cones. Very slow to establish and dependent on soil fungi, so buy propagated stock and site it once.
- Family
- Lycopodiaceae
- Type
- shrub
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 0.2–0.5 ft
- Spacing
- 1–3 ft apart
- Light
- part shade, shade
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- acidic
- Wildlife value
- mammals
- Landscape uses
- groundcover, naturalizing
- Native states
- AK, AL, CA, CT, DE, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MT, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, VT, WI, WV