Luzuriaga parviflora < Species index > Lycopodium volubile
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Creeping clubmoss
Photo: Jeremy Rolfe
This article was published in the Tararua Tramper June 2026
June In the hills with Michele Dickson and Chris Horne
Lycopodium scariosum, -, Creeping clubmoss
Lycopodium comes from the Greek words meaning "wolf's foot"; scariosum comes from the Latin words meaning dry, membranous and not green with chaffy-like onion-skin. Lycopodium species belong to the clubmoss family Lycopodiaceae, one of the families of fern allies. They have a primitive vascular system with unbranched veins in their small leaves and sporangia borne on the upper surface of the leaf, often in cones.
Distribution and habitat
Look for creeping clubmoss in lowland and montane open country on the North Island south of Rotorua and on the South, Stewart, Campbell and Auckland islands. It also occurs in Victoria and Tasmania. It grows in coastal to subalpine places in habitats such as mossy roadside banks, stream banks, shrubland, and peaty ground.
Growth habit
The main stems are prostrate, creeping to 2 m or more long, branched, rigid, erect or climbing. The aerial branchlets are rigid, erect, up to 30 cm long and sometimes winding around the host plant. The branchlets are more or less flattened with 2 rows of yellowish-green leaves, 3–5 mm long, arranged in two ranks either side of the stem. On the undersurface of branchlets are also 2 rows of tiny, 0.2 mm long, scattered appressed scale-like leaves which can be hard to see without magnification.
Reproduction
Spores are produced in sporangia in orange-brown cones / strobili which are up to 10-50 mm long, erect, terminal, stalked, solitary or paired. When the sporangia are mature, they split and release thousands of spores, which in turn develop into a minute alternate life-cycle stage which then produces the plant we see and describe.
Uses
The way creeping clubmoss climbs up a supporting plant adds interest to both the supporting plant, the climber and to the photographer.
Where can you find Creeping clubmoss?
Look for it in Tararua and Remutaka Forest Parks and western Wellington hills. It has not been recorded in Aorangi Forest Park.
In The Hills 2026-02 < Index chronological > In The Hills 2026-07