club moss

views updated May 11 2018

club moss Any of c.200 species of small evergreen spore-bearing plants which, unlike the more primitive true mosses, have specialized tissues for transporting water, food and minerals. They are related to ferns and horsetails. The small leaves are arranged in tight whorls around the aerial stems. Millions of years ago their ancestors formed the large trees that dominated Carboniferous coal forests. Phylum Lycopodophyta, Family Lycopodiaceae.See also moss