Club Mosses

1. ClubMosses Marisa Ramunas Gabriel Dominguez Period 8 – Biology

2. The History of the Club Moss • Ancient club mosses grew into huge trees (up to 35 meters in height) and some grew into what is now some of the Earth’s first forest. • The fossilized remains of these tress exist today as large beds of coal.

3. Now… • Club mosses are small plants that live in moist woodlands located near streams and marshes. • Members of the genus Lycopodium (common club moss) look like mini pine trees.

4. This picture shows how club mosses look now a days.

5. Basics • Common Name:Club Moss • Scientific Name:Lycopodiumspp • Family:Clubmoss (Lycopodiaceae) • Other Common Names:Ground Pine, Club Pine, ground cedar, and running pine • Habitat:Moist, shaded woodlands • General Bloom Dates:June - September

6. About the Club Moss • Club Mosses have horizontal branching stems, both underground and above. These stems will send up shoots that will hold the flowering portion of the plant. These plants produce spores in a cone like structure at the end of the stem. Once the spores germinate, they develop into a "thallus" which then produce male and female egg cells. These cells then reproduce to form the new plant. • This process can take up to 20 years.

7. Seedless Vascular Plants • Club mosses are seedless vascular plants meaning that these plants do not produce seeds, so the seeds are dispersed with the wind. • These club mosses have true roots, steams, and leaves.

8. Club mosses are said to be very similar to the earliest vascular plants. They have small scale-like leaves, homosporous spores borne in sporangia at the bases of the leaves, branching stems, and generally have a simple form.

9. Structure of a Club Moss Stobilus - Is a structure present on most plant species consisting of leaf-like, sporangia-bearing structures densely aggregated along a stem. (AKA – Cones) Horizontal Stem – Are what produce roots at frequent intervals along their length, allowing the stem to grow indefinitely along the ground. Adventitious Root – It arise out-of-sequence from the more usual root formation of branches of a primary root, and instead it originate from the stem, branches, leaves, or old woody roots.

10. Facts • There are 400 species of Club Mosses. • They are considered to be “cosmopolitan” meaning that they can live in the arctic and in the tropics. • The spores of club mosses were once used to coat pills.

11. More Facts :D • Even though club mosses have the word moss in them, doesn’t mean that they are considered mosses. They are actually considered to be plants. • In Europe, the club mosses used to help with kidney and bladder disorders. • They were also used to produce fireworks.