Knowra Lycopodiaceae Lycopodiaceae Lycopodiaceae is a family of seedless vascular plants that includes clubmosses, firmosses, and spikemosses. Its members reproduce with spores and bear small leaves called microphylls.
Microphyll : A small leaf with a single, unbranched vein, characteristic of lycophytes. Lycopodiaceae bears microphylls rather than the larger, branched-vein leaves of ferns and seed plants.
Homosporous plant : A plant that produces one size and type of spore. Most Lycopodiaceae are homosporous, producing spores that can develop into gametophytes.
Polypodiaceae : A large family of true ferns, many of which have creeping rhizomes. Its members are ferns, unlike the lycophytes of Lycopodiaceae, despite sometimes sharing a low, ground-covering habit.
Lycopodium powder : A fine, hydrophobic powder made from clubmoss spores. The spores' waxy coating made them useful in demonstrations, fireworks, and pharmaceutical dusting powders.
Lycopodiopsida : A class of vascular plants comprising the living lycophytes and their extinct relatives. Lycopodiaceae belongs to this ancient plant lineage, which diverged early in vascular-plant evolution.
Lycophyte : A vascular plant in the lineage that includes clubmosses, spikemosses, and quillworts. Lycopodiaceae is one family within the broader lycophyte lineage.
Heterospory : The production of two distinct spore types, typically microspores and megaspores. This contrasts with the single spore type typical of Lycopodiaceae.
Selaginellaceae : A family of lycophytes commonly known as spikemosses, distinct from Lycopodiaceae. Spikemosses were historically included with clubmosses, but modern classifications place them in a separate family.
Lycopodium clavatum : A widespread clubmoss species with creeping stems and upright, cone-bearing shoots. Its spores are a prominent source of the powder historically sold as Lycopodium.
Devonian period : A geological period spanning about 419 to 359 million years ago. Lycophytes diversified early in the history of vascular plants, with major lineages present by the Devonian.
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