Lycopodium digitatum

Lycopodium digitatum, also known as Fan Club-moss, Crow foot Club-moss, Southern ground-cedar, Southern running-pine, or Trailing ground-pine has been found growing on Providence Prairie. Lycopodium digitatum is a type of fern, native to the U.S.. It is a non-invasive evergreen ground cover, having a strobili that flowers on a spike from July to October. It most commonly makes its home at the base of moist wooded slopes, often on acidic substrates, which describes where we found ours. As it looks like a mix between a fern and a pine, and is often used for greenery in Christmas decorations.Our discovery is in the Family of Lycopodiaceae (Club moss family), the Genus Lycopodium L. (club moss), and it is the Species Lycopodium digitatum.



There are several different species of Lycopodium L., and some varitieties are used to make Lycopodium powder. This fine yellow powder comes from the spores on the strobili of certain Lycopodium L. and is collected to make an explosive powder. When a lighted match is dropped into a pile of the powder, it does not burn. But, when the powder is blown through a tube in a fine mist across a candle, it ignites into a spectacular ball of fire. This results from increasing the available surface area for combustion: when the powder is dispersed into a mist, the particles are surrounded by enough oxygen to support a combustion reaction. Lycopodium powder in the past was used in fireworks, photographic flash powder (to resemble lightning in filming), fingerprint powders, as a covering for pills, explosives, and as an ice cream stabilizer.


Although our Lycopodium is not the type specific for Lycopodium powder, it is exciting to add it to the collection of known flora that thrives on Providence Prairie!