Selaginellaceae

Medicinal spikemoss

Selaginella involvens (Sw.) Spring

Family: Selaginellaceae
Genus: Selaginella

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Medicinal spikemoss: Selaginella involens (Selaginellaceae) Japanese name: Katahiba Date; 2006,09; Tanabe city, Wakayama pref., Japan Author; Keisotyo — Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Keisotyo assumed, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons

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Common names

By language (4)

Chinese: 兖州卷柏, 密葉卷柏
English: Medicinal spikemoss
Japanese: カタヒバ
Korean: 부처손

Synonyms

Kungiselaginella involvens (Sw.) Li Bing Zhang & X.M.Zhou
Kungiselaginella peltata (C.Presl) Li Bing Zhang & X.M.Zhou
Kungiselaginella polyura (Warb.) Li Bing Zhang & X.M.Zhou
Lycopodioides involvens (Sw.) Kuntze
Lycopodioides pennula (Desv.) Kuntze
Lycopodium caulescens Wall. ex Hook. & Grev.
Lycopodium caulescens Wall.
Lycopodium involvens Sw.
Lycopodium microstachyum Desv. ex Poir.
Selaginella bellula Ces.
Selaginella caudispica Alderw.
Selaginella caulescens (Wall. ex Hook. & Grev.) Spring
Selaginella caulescens f. minor Hieron.
Selaginella caulescens var. belulla (Ces.) Hieron.
Selaginella caulescens var. brachypoda Baker
Selaginella caulescens var. gracilis W.Bull
Selaginella caulescens var. japonica (T.Moore ex McNab) Baker
Selaginella caulescens var. minor Milde
Selaginella caulescens var. minor Sandford
Selaginella caulescens var. subintegerrima Spring
Selaginella fimbriata var. polyura Warb.
Selaginella homomorpha Klotzsch ex Milde
Selaginella involvens var. bellula (Ces.) Hieron.
Selaginella involvens var. variegata Veitch
Selaginella japonica T.Moore
Selaginella merrillii Alderw.
Selaginella microstachya (Desv.) Hieron.
Selaginella microstachya Warb.
Selaginella mindanaoensis Hieron.
Selaginella pachystachys Koidz.
Selaginella peltata C.Presl
Selaginella pennula (Desv.) Spring
Selaginella polyura Warb.
Selaginella pseudostauntoniana Pamp.
Selaginella striolata Warb.
Selaginella subfimbriata var. polyura (Warb.) Alderw.
Selaginella warburgii Hieron.

Characteristics

Growth habit: Forb/herb
Lifespan: Perennial
In the US and Canada: Pacific Basin: introduced

Photos

Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Keisotyo assumed, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Keisotyo assumed, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons

More in Selaginella

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.