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Bristly Clubmoss - Spinulum annotinum
Each year's growth in this clubmoss is noted by an interruption on the stem.
Habitat: Mixed forest
It may just look like a boring clubmoss, but it has had so many uses in the past:
-The Woods Cree Nation used it to separate fish eggs from their membranous sacs. They did this by wriggling the egg mass and a bunch of stiff club moss together. The separated eggs were used to make fish-egg bread.
-Clubmoss spores have also been used as a dusting powder during surgery, as baby powder, and to treat various skin problems, such as eczema. The spores repel water so that anything dusted with them can be dipped into water without becoming wet.
-Clubmoss spores are rich in oil, and are highly flammable. They were once used by photographers and performers as flash powder, giving the effect of lightning on the stage.
''Spinulum annotinum'' is a species of clubmoss native to forests of the colder parts of North America , as well as Asia , and most of Europe.
''Spinulum annotinum'' is a common and widespread club-moss spreading by means of horizontal stems running along the surface of the ground. It is usually unbranched or sparingly branched, each branch containing a cone at the top. Leaves have minute teeth on their edges.
comments (7)
https://eol.org/pages/599070/names
But, the USDA still lists it as Lycopodium:
https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=LYAN2
And, this info was stated on Wikipedia:
"The genus Spinulum is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I),[6] but not in other classifications, which submerge the genus in Lycopodium."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinulum_annotinum Posted 4 years ago