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Willdenow's spikemoss
Selaginella willdenowii
Selaginella willdenowii is a species of vascular plant in the Selaginellaceae family. It is a spikemoss known by the common names Willdenow's spikemoss and peacock fern (a name shared with S. Uncinata) due to its iridescent blue leaves. Like other Selaginallales, it is fern ally and not a true fern.
Selaginella willdenowii is sometimes spelt incorrectly as Selaginella willdenovii.
From the article Selaginella willdenowii on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
The blue iridescence is produced by thin-film interference in a thin layer of cells with lamellar structure present in the upper cuticle of leaves. It is suggested that this adaptation reduces the effect of strong sun beams filtering through the canopy that would otherwise damage shade-adapted species. Blue iridescence is found also Selaginella uncinata and both species are adapted for extreme shade below the forest canopy.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Selaginella willdenowii in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 168773.