#spikemoss — Public Fediverse posts

Terrarium mission accomplished (I hope) #Huperzia #Selaginella #clubmoss #spikemoss #lycopod

I treated myself to a little eBay auction a couple of weeks ago and bought a peacock spikemoss (Selaginella wildenowii - my seventh species). It has lamellar structures in the upper cuticle of the leaf that cause thin-film interference (like a soap bubble, or an oil spill in a puddle) that make it flash blue iridescence at particular angles.

#Selaginella #Spikemoss #Lycopod #Iridescence

Two of my favourite spikemosses: Selaginella uncinata (peacock spikemoss) and Selaginella erythropus (no common name: I call it octarine spikemoss after Pterry). Both have iridescent leaves due to thin-film interference in the cell wall (S. uncinata) or the stacked thylakoids of the chloroplasts (S. erythropus) but the latter's leaves also have a lot of red pigment, so the iridescence is more difficult to capture in a photo. Easy to grow in a terrarium. #Selaginella #lycopod #spikemoss #clubmoss