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Lycopodium clavatum

stag's-horn clubmoss

Lycopodiaceae Circumboreal Northern Hemisphere

Deer Resistant

Native to North America

SunPart Shade – Full Shade

WaterMedium

HardinessZones 2–6

Overview

Lycopodium clavatum is an evergreen, spore-bearing clubmoss that creeps across the ground on long horizontal runners and sends up forked, upright shoots 4-10 inches (10-25 cm) tall. The trailing stems can extend 3 feet (90 cm) or more and root at intervals, forming spreading colonies. They are densely clothed in small, narrow, bright green needle-like leaves about 0.25 inch (6 mm) long, each tipped with a hair-like point, giving the shoots a soft, mossy, branched look. Rather than flowers or seeds, the plant reproduces by spores borne in slender yellow cones, or strobili, 1-2 inches (2.5-5 cm) long held on stalks above the foliage in late summer. The yellow spores are water-repellent and highly flammable and were once collected as lycopodium powder. It grows in acidic, poor soils of heaths, open woodland, moors, and mountain slopes across the cooler parts of the Northern Hemisphere. It is slow to establish and transplants poorly, which makes it difficult to grow in gardens.

Native Range

Lycopodium clavatum has a wide circumboreal distribution across the cooler temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including North America, Europe, and Asia, growing on acidic heaths, moors, open woodland, and mountain slopes.

Suggested Uses

Grown only rarely, and then in cool, acidic woodland or heath gardens and naturalistic shade plantings where conditions match its native ground. It forms a slow-spreading evergreen groundcover among heathers, ferns, and conifers. It is mostly encountered in the wild rather than in cultivation, and many populations are protected from collection.

How to Identify

Identify stag's-horn clubmoss by its long trailing runners and upright, forking shoots 4-10 inches (10-25 cm) tall, densely covered in small bright green needle-like leaves tipped with a hair-like point. In late summer slender yellow cones 1-2 inches (2.5-5 cm) long rise on stalks above the shoots and release clouds of yellow spores. The creeping, rooting runners and soft branched shoots resemble a miniature conifer seedling rather than a true moss.

Appearance

Size & Dimensions

Height4" - 10"

Width/Spread2' - 4'

Colors

Foliage Colors

green

Fall Foliage Colors

no change

Bloom Information

This clubmoss produces no flowers. Instead it reproduces by spores released from yellow cones, or strobili, that mature in late summer to early fall, generally August to September. The powdery yellow spores are dispersed by wind, and new plants also arise vegetatively as the runners root along their length.

Detailed Descriptions

Foliage Description

bright green

Growing Conditions

Sun Requirements

SunPartial Shade SunFull Shade

Tolerates up to 4 hours of direct sunlight daily

• Full Sun: 6+ hours of direct sunlight

• Partial Shade: 3-6 hours of direct sunlight

• Full Shade: Less than 3 hours of direct sunlight

Soil Requirements

pH Range4.0 - 5.5(Acidic)

357912

Soil Types

peat sand loam

Drainagemoist

Water & Climate

Water Needs

Medium

Frost Tolerance

hardy

Time to Maturity

3-5 years

Care & Maintenance

Care Guide

Lycopodium clavatum needs cool, moist, acidic, low-fertility soil at a pH around 4.0-5.5 and partial to full shade that mimics its native heath and woodland. It depends on a soil fungus partner to establish, which is why it rarely transplants successfully and is seldom offered in cultivation. Steady moisture and an acidic organic mulch suit it, while lime, fertilizer, and disturbance harm it. Established colonies spread slowly on their own by creeping, rooting runners. No feeding is needed, as it grows naturally on poor ground. It is hardy through cold winters across USDA zones 2-6.

Pruning

No pruning is needed or advisable. The creeping runners and upright shoots are left undisturbed, since cutting or digging sets the colony back severely. Spent spore cones simply wither on the plant.

✓ Toxicity

Non-toxic