SPECIES: Lycopodium annotinum
Introductory
SPECIES: Lycopodium annotinum
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Matthews, Robin F. 1993. Lycopodium annotinum. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis//plants/fern/lycann/all.html [].
ABBREVIATION :
LYCANN
SYNONYMS :
Lycopodium annotinum ssp. alpestre (Hartman) Love & Love
Lycopodium annotinum ssp. pungens (LaPyle) Hulten
SCS PLANT CODE :
LYAN2
COMMON NAMES :
stiff clubmoss
bristly clubmoss
interrupted clubmoss
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name of stiff clubmoss is Lycopodium
annotinum L. [14,25,27]. Four varieties are recognized based on
morphological and ecological characteristics [3,10,37]:
L. annotinum var. annotinum
L. annotinum var. acrifolium Fern. (sharp-leaved)
L. annotinum var. pungens (LaPyle) Desv. (pungent)
L. annotinum var. alpestre Hartman (of high mountains)
LIFE FORM :
Fern or Fern Ally
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Lycopodium annotinum
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Stiff clubmoss is a circumboreal species that is widely distributed from
Greenland and Labrador to Alaska, south to the northwestern United
States, Wyoming, Colorado, the Great Lakes States, New England, and
along the Appalachians [10,14,19,20,37].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES10 White - red - jack pine
FRES11 Spruce - fir
FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
FRES19 Aspen - birch
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES24 Hemlock - Sitka spruce
FRES26 Lodgepole pine
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES44 Alpine
STATES :
AK CO CT DE ID ME MD MA MI MN
MT NH NJ NY NC OR PA RI TN VT
VA WA WV WI WY AB BC MB NB NF
NT NS ON PE PQ SK YT
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
1 Northern Pacific Border
2 Cascade Mountains
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
15 Black Hills Uplift
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K001 Spruce - cedar - helmock forest
K002 Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
K003 Silver fir - Douglas-fir forest
K004 Fir - hemlock forest
K008 Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest
K012 Douglas-fir forest
K015 Western spruce - fir forest
K025 Alder - ash forest
K052 Alpine meadows and barren
K093 Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
K094 Conifer bog
K095 Great Lakes pine forest
K096 Northeastern spruce - fir forest
K099 Maple - basswood forest
K101 Elm - ash forest
K102 Beech - maple forest
K103 Mixed mesophytic forest
K106 Northern hardwoods
K107 Northern hardwoods - fir forest
K108 Northern hardwoods - spruce forest
SAF COVER TYPES :
1 Jack pine
5 Balsam fir
12 Black spruce
13 Black spruce - tamarack
15 Red pine
16 Aspen
17 Pin cherry
18 Paper birch
19 Gray birch - red maple
20 White pine - northern red oak - red maple
21 Eastern white pine
22 White pine - hemlock
23 Eastern hemlock
24 Hemlock - yellow birch
25 Sugar maple - beech - yellow birch
26 Sugar maple - basswood
27 Sugar maple
28 Black cherry - maple
30 Red spruce - yellow birch
31 Red spruce - sugar maple - beech
32 Red spruce
33 Red spruce - balsam fir
35 Paper birch - red spruce - balsam fir
37 Northern white-cedar
38 Tamarack
39 Black ash - American elm - red maple
60 Beech - sugar maple
107 White spruce
108 Red maple
201 White spruce
202 White spruce - paper birch
203 Balsam poplar
204 Black spruce
205 Mountain hemlock
206 Engelmann spruce - subalpinefir
208 Whitebark pine
210 Interior Douglas-fir
217 Aspen
218 Lodgepole pine
223 Sitka spruce
224 Western hemlock
225 Western hemlock - Sitka spruce
226 Coastal true fir - hemlock
227 Western redcedar - western hemlock
228 Western redcedar
229 Pacific Douglas-fir
230 Douglas-fir - western hemlock
251 White spruce - aspen
252 Paper birch
253 Black spruce - white spruce
254 Black spruce - paper birch
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Stiff clubmoss most often grows in coniferous, northern hardwoods, and
mixed hardwoods habitats [25,35,43]. It may also occur in
grass-sedge-heath associations [35]. Stiff clubmoss is characteristic
of boreal coniferous forests [23]. It is also an indicator of white
spruce (Picea glauca)-balsam fir (Abies balsamea) forest types in the
Great Lakes States [36].
Stiff clubmoss is listed as a codominant species in the following
published classification:
Field guide to forest ecosystem classification for the Clay Belt, site
region 3e [22].
Common shrub associates of stiff clubmoss include bog Labrador tea
(Ledum groenlandicum), cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus), prickly rose
(Rosa acicularis), white spiraea (Spirea betulifolia), blueberry
(Vaccinium spp.), twinflower (Linnaea borealis), alder (Alnus spp.),
Canada yew (Taxus canadensis), mooseberry viburnum (Viburnum
pauciflorum), and highbush cranberry (V. edule) [5,6,22,26].
Other associated vegetation includes heartleaf arnica (Arnica
cordifolia), bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), wild sarsaparilla
(Aralia nudicaulis), one-sided wintergreen (Pyrola secunda), sidebells
shinleaf (P. uniflora), queencup beadlily (Clintonia uniflora), orchids
(Corallorhiza spp., Calypso spp., Habenaria spp.), twisted stalk
(Streptopus amplexifolius), meadowrue (Thalictrum spp.), baneberry
(Actaea rubra), devil's club (Oplopanax horridus), miterwort (Mitella
spp.), lady fern (Athyrium felix-femina), woodfern (Dryopteris spp.)
sedges (Carex spp.), horsetails (Equisetum spp.), mosses (Mnium spp.,
Rhytdiadelphus spp., Polytrichum spp.), and lichens (Cladonia spp.,
Stereocaulon spp., Peltigera spp.) [5,6,22,26].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Lycopodium annotinum
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Stiff clubmoss is occasionally eaten by moose from May through October
on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska [29].
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
Spores of the genus Lycopodium have been used as baby powder and as an
inflammable powder for flash photography [43]. Native Americans used
the spores to stop nosebleeds and bleeding from wounds. Some clubmosses
(Lycopodium spp.) contain poisonous alkaloids that can cause pain in the
mouth, vomiting, and diarrhea when ingested [34]. Stiff clubmoss makes
an attractive ground cover throughout the year but is rarely
transplanted successfully [21].
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Stiff clubmoss in open white spruce/alder/cloudberry/feathermoss
(Pleurozium spp.) communities in Alaska had the following cover (c) and
frequency (f) percentages after three silvicultural treatments [7]:
pre- clearcut(no burn) shelterwood shelterwood
treatment 14m spacing 9m spacing
c/f c/f c/f c/f
_______________________________________________________________________
year 1 0.1/4.0 +/2.0 -- --
year 2 0.1/3.0 -- 0.9/10.0
(+ designates present; -- designates not present)
Stiff clubmoss declined in cover and constancy after logging and site
preparation in the sub-boreal spruce zone of British Columbia [17].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Lycopodium annotinum
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Stiff clubmoss is a native, perennial, evergreen clubmoss. The
aboveground horizontal stem of stiff clubmoss is long, creeping, and
forked with ascending or erect branches. The main stem is generally 40
inches (100 cm) long, and branches are typically 0.8 to 16 inches (2-40
cm) tall. Vegetative leaves are whorled, and fertile leaves form a
sessile strobilus at the end of a branch [10,14,19,27,37]. Roots are
adventitious and arise from the underside of the prostrate stem [44].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Hemicryptophyte
Geophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Stiff clubmoss is a clonal species, reproducing primarily by sprouting
from rhizomes [8,38]. It also produces spores and a subterranean,
mycorrhizal gametophyte [32,40]. Stiff clubmoss is homosporous but
usually cross-fertilizes [38].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Stiff clubmoss most commonly inhabits moist woods, thickets, bogs, and
meadows [10,19,20,21]. Sites are typically cool and shaded but
occasionally may be dry, exposed, and rocky [3,5,27,35]. Soils are
acidic, well to poorly drained, and have mesic to subhygric moisture
regimes [6,14,25]. Stiff clubmoss occurs from sea level to alpine zones
and has been found at 11,000 feet (3,300 m) in Colorado [19,34].
Occurrence of stiff clubmoss increases with increasing latitude [23].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Facultative Seral Species
Stiff clubmoss is shade tolerant [25]. It occurs in mature forests
throughout its range [5,15,28,30,42]. In Isle Royale National Park,
Michigan, occurrence of stiff clubmoss is largely related to forest
communities undisturbed for 100 or more years [18].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Stiff clubmoss spores develop from late July to early October [10].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Lycopodium annotinum
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Stiff clubmoss regenerates by sprouting from surface rhizomes [8,38].
These surficial rhizomes are likely to be damaged by fire but may
survive a light fire.
FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Surface rhizome/chamaephytic root crown
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Lycopodium annotinum
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Stiff clubmoss is most likely killed by all but very quick, light fires.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
After fires on mesic black spruce (Picea mariana) sites in interior
Alaska, stiff clubmoss was not present in abundance in the newly burned
stage (0 to 1 year after fire) and did not reach its greatest cover
until 90 to 200 years later. However, in white spruce stands, stiff
clubmoss was present from the newly burned stage through the hardwood
stage (stand age 46 to 150 years) [11].
Dyrness [7] reported that stiff clubmoss did not sprout in white
spruce/bog Labrador tea/mountain cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea)
communities within 2 years after clearcutting and burning.
The number of stems present after clearcutting and burning balsam
fir-red spruce (Picea rubra) woodlots in southwestern New Brunswick were
reported as follows [16]:
prefire 151
after clearcutting 33
after burning 0
1 year after burning 0
Stiff clubmoss was not present in burns less than 7 years old in
mixed-hardwood stands in New Brunswick [31]. However, in black
spruce-feather moss stands in Labrador, it attained prefire frequencies
in about 5 years [12].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
Hamilton's Research Papers (Hamilton 2006a, Hamilton 2006b)
provide information on prescribed fire and postfire response of many plant
species, including stiff clubmoss, that was not available when this species
review was originally written.
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Lycopodium annotinum
REFERENCES :
1. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
2. Blackwell, B.; Feller, M. C.; Trowbridge, R. 1992. Conversion of dense
lodgepole pine stands in west-central British Columbia into young
lodgepole pine plantations using prescribed fire. 1. Biomass consumption
durning burning treatments. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 22(4):
572-581. [19658]
3. Cody, William J.; Britton, Donald M. 1989. Ferns and fern allies of
Canada. Ottawa, ON: Agriculture Canada, Research Branch. 430 p. [13078]
4. Cooper, William S. 1928. Seventeen years of successional change upon
Isle Royale, Lake Superior. Ecology. 9(1): 1-5. [7297]
5. Cormack, R. G. H. 1953. A survey of coniferous forest succession in the
eastern Rockies. Forestry Chronicle. 29: 218-232. [16458]
6. Corns, I. G. W.; Annas, R. M. 1986. Field guide to forest ecosystems of
west-central Alberta. Edmonton, AB: Canadian Forestry Service, Northern
Forestry Centre. 251 p. [8998]
7. Dyrness, C. T.; Viereck, L. A.; Foote, M. J.; Zasada, J. C. 1988. The
effect on vegetation and soil temperature of logging flood-plain white
spruce. Res. Pap. PNW-RP-392. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 45 p.
[7471]
8. Eriksson, O. 1989. Seedling dynamics and life histories in clonal
plants. Oikos. 55: 231-238. [10322]
9. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
10. Fernald, Merritt Lyndon. 1950. Gray's manual of botany. [Corrections
supplied by R. C. Rollins]. Portland, OR: Dioscorides Press. 1632 p.
(Dudley, Theodore R., gen. ed.; Biosystematics, Floristic & Phylogeny
Series; vol. 2). [14935]
11. Foote, M. Joan. 1983. Classification, description, and dynamics of plant
communities after fire in the taiga of interior Alaska. Res. Pap.
PNW-307. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 108 p. [7080]
12. Foster, David R. 1985. Vegetation development following fire in Picea
mariana (black spruce) - Pleurozium forests of south-eastern Labrador,
Canada. Journal of Ecology. 73: 517-534. [7222]
13. Gaines, Edward M.; Kallander, Harry R.; Wagner, Joe A. 1958. Controlled
burning in southwestern ponderosa pine: results from the Blue Mountain
plots, Fort Apache Indian Reservation. Journal of Forestry. 56: 323-327.
[988]v
14. Gleason, H. A.; Cronquist, A. 1963. Manual of vascular plants of
northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. Princeton, NJ: D. Van
Nostrand Company, Inc. 810 p. [7065]
15. Habeck, James R. 1963. The composition of several climax forest
communities in the Lake McDonald area of Glacier National Park.
Proceedings of the Montana Academy of Sciences. 23: 37-44. [6532]
16. Hall, I. V. 1955. Floristic changes following the cutting and burning of
a woodlot for blueberry production. Canadian Journal of Agricultural
Science. 35: 143-152. [9012]
17. Hamilton, Evelyn H.; Yearsley, H. Karen. 1988. Vegetation development
after clearcutting and site preparation in the SBS zone. Economic and
Regional Development Agreement: FRDA Report 018. Victoria, BC: Canadian
Forestry Service, Pacific Forestry Centre; British Columbia Ministry of
Forests and Lands. 66 p. [8760]
18. Hansen, H. L.; Krefting, L. W.; Kurmis, V. 1973. The forest of Isle
Royale in relation to fire history and wildlife. Tech. Bull. 294;
Forestry Series 13. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota,
Agricultural Experiment Station. 44 p. [8120]
19. Harrington, H. D. 1964. Manual of the plants of Colorado. 2d ed.
Chicago: The Swallow Press Inc. 666 p. [6851]
20. Hitchcock, C. Leo; Cronquist, Arthur. 1973. Flora of the Pacific
Northwest. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. 730 p. [1168]
21. Hitchcock, C. Leo; Cronquist, Arthur; Ownbey, Marion. 1969. Vascular
plants of the Pacific Northwest. Part 1: Vascular cryptograms,
gymnosperms, and monocotyledons. Seattle, WA: University of Washington
Press. 914 p. [1169]
22. Jones, R. Keith; Pierpoint, Geoffrey; Wickware, Gregory M.; [and
others]. 1983. Field guide to forest ecosystem classification for the
Clay Belt, site region 3e. Maple, Ontario: Ministry of Natural
Resources, Ontario Forest Research Institute. 160 p. [16163]
23. Klinka, K.; Krajina, V. J.; Ceska, A.; Scagel, A. M. 1989. Indicator
plants of coastal British Columbia. Vancouver, BC: University of British
Columbia Press. 288 p. [10703]
24. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
25. Kudish, Michael. 1992. Adirondack upland flora: an ecological
perspective. Saranac, NY: The Chauncy Press. 320 p. [19376]
26. Kurmis, Vilis; Webb, Sara L.; Merriam, Lawrence C., Jr. 1986. Plant
communities of Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, U.S.A. Canadian
Journal of Botany. 64: 531-540. [16088]
27. Lackschewitz, Klaus. 1991. Vascular plants of west-central
Montana--identification guidebook. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-227. Ogden, UT:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research
Station. 648 p. [13798]
28. Layser, Earle F. 1978. Grizzly bears in the southern Selkirk Mountains.
Northwest Science. 52(2): 77-91. [14275]
29. LeResche, Robert E.; Davis, James L. 1973. Importance of nonbrowse foods
to moose on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Journal of Wildlife Management.
37(3): 279-287. [13123]
30. Lutz, H. J. 1953. The effects of forest fires on the vegetation of
interior Alaska. Juneau, AK: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest
Service, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 36 p.
[7076]
31. MacLean, David A.; Wein, Ross W. 1977. Changes in understory vegetation
with increasing stand age in New Brunswick forests: species composition,
cover, biomass, and nutrients. Canadian Journal of Botany. 55:
2818-2831. [10106]
32. Malloch, D.; Malloch, B. 1982. The mycorrhizal status of boreal plants:
additional species from northeastern Ontario. Canadian Journal of
Botany. 60: 1035-1040. [17718]
33. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
34. Robuck, O. Wayne. 1989. Common alpine plants of southeast Alaska. Misc.
Publ. ---. Juneau, AK: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Pacific Northwest Research Station, Forestry Sciences Laboratory. 207 p.
[17693]
35. Roland, A. E.; Smith, E. C. 1969. The flora of Nova Scotia. Halifax, NS:
Nova Scotia Museum. 746 p. [13158]
36. Rudolf, Paul O. 1950. Forest plantations in the Lake States. Tech. Bull.
1010. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture. 171 p. [13463]
37. Seymour, Frank Conkling. 1982. The flora of New England. 2d ed.
Phytologia Memoirs 5. Plainfield, NJ: Harold N. Moldenke and Alma L.
Moldenke. 611 p. [7604]
38. Soltis, Pamela S.; Soltis, Douglas E. 1988. Estimated rates of
intragametophytic selfing in lycopods. American Journal of Botany.
75(2): 248-256. [20441]
39. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p. [20090]
40. Svensson, Brita M.; Callaghan, Terry V. 1988. Apical dominance and the
simulation of metapopulation dynamics in Lycopodium annotinum. Oikos.
51(3): 331-342. [17740]
41. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1982.
National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names.
SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p. [11573]
42. Viereck, Leslie A. 1970. Forest succession and soil development adjacent
to the Chena River in interior Alaska. Arctic and Alpine Research. 2(1):
1-26. [12466]
43. Weber, William A. 1987. Colorado flora: western slope. Boulder, CO:
Colorado Associated University Press. 530 p. [7706]
44. Wilson, C. L.; Loomis, W. E.; Steeves, T. A. 1971. Botany. New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 752 p. [21163]
FEIS Home Page
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/fern/lycann/all.html
