Selaginella minima Spring, Bull. Acad. Roy. Sci. Bruxelles

Smith, Alan R. & Kessler, Michael, 2018, Prodromus of a fern flora for Bolivia. III. Selaginellaceae, Phytotaxa 344 (3), pp. 248-258 : 254

Selaginella minima Spring, Bull. Acad. Roy. Sci. Bruxelles 10: 139. 1843.

Range: —Disjunct in western Mexico to Nicaragua, Panama; Venezuela, Trinidad, French Guiana; northern and central Brazil and eastern Bolivia (SC).

Ecology: —Rare, known from a single Bolivian collection: Peña-Chocarro 210 (USZ); on dry, open wooded slopes, on clay banks, and along stream banks; 400 m. It is apparently capable of producing only megasporangia and thus reproduces apogamously. This may be an adaptation to extreme environmental conditions.

Notes: —Most similar to Selaginella simplex , but S. minima has long-ciliate (vs. denticulate), ovate (vs. ovateelliptic to ovate-lanceolate), basally asymmetric (vs. rounded) median leaves, and white (vs. yellow) megaspores. Plants are small, with stems short-creeping to ascending, with small lateral leaves ca. 2 mm or less long; both median and lateral leaves, as well as sporophylls, are white-margined, and the lateral and axillary leaves noticeably long-ciliate.