Giri spikemoss (Selaginella subalpina)

Giri spikemoss (Selaginella subalpina) is a plant species in the Selaginellaceae, fibrous roots, growing creeping or spreading on the forest floor, stems are brownish red and branched.

S. subalpina has green leaves, simple, stemless, appear criss-cross, resemble flat scales, smooth surface and encircle the stem. The leaves on the stem are arranged in rows and have spaces.



Giri spikemoss grows to form small colonies in the shade at an elevation of about 1500 meters in the tropics. Often used as an ornamental plant. In some areas it is used as wound medicine, blood purifier, stomachache medicine and fever medicine by bathing using boiled water.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Lycopodiopsida
Order: Selaginellales
Family: Selaginellaceae
Genus: Selaginella P.Beauv. in Mag. Encycl. 9(5): 478 (1804)
Subgenus: Stachygynandrum
Section: Ascendentes
Species: Selaginella plana Alderw. in Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, sér. 2, 20: 26 (1915)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Chuselaginella subalpina (Alderw.) Li Bing Zhang & X.M.Zhou in Pl. Diversity 45: 676 (2023)

PUBLICATIONS

Roskov Y. & al. (eds.) (2018). World Ferns: Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands.

VERNACULAR NAME

English: Giri spikemoss
Indonesia: Lumut giri
Java: Lumut giri

Aryo Bandoro
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