Plant of the day is Selaginella martensii or Marten's spikemoss

Plant of the Day is: Selaginella martensii or Marten's spikemoss

This earns a spot into plant of the day because it is a great houseplant for lower light spots and just looks downright cool.  Almost reminds me of a Thuja (arborvitae) or something.  Also this is not a clubmoss, as that is something different (but related).

Also, it's old.  REALLY old.  In fact, the Lycopodiophyta division is the oldest living vascular plant division at around 410 million years old.  Whew!  Not to get too much into taxonomy but this genus is kind of the go to for both an order AND a family.  Selaginellaceae.  There, i just learned a new family too!

So, all of that being said, they aren't like your standard flowering plants.  Not quite ferns but in terms of care they are very similar.  They like to be well watered with high humidity and kept fairly warm.  Room temp should be fine.  To combat your bone dry house in the winter either put a dish with water and rocks under the pot...or they even make humidity trays that work well (Niki got one for her fern and BAM...much better).  

As you can see from the picture below, you can find them with yellow to white variegated tips that remind me of a Thuja/Chamaecyparis blend.  Almost like having a little evergreen in your house!

I've seen these around and not grabbed one but it's definitely on my radar now.  

I'm not going to go into a whole lot of detail here but they are spore producing and as an interesting distinction, lycopods only have one microphyll (leaf vein) per leaf compared to the many in ferns and many other plants.  Unlike almost all lycopods, Selaginella actually does have some trace branching off of the microphyll.  Obviously kicking it oldskool and far less evolved.  Obviously a pretty solid model, however, considering they are still around.

This particular species was listed in my houseplants book with a common name of resurrection plant.  In times of extreme drought they turn brown and curl up into a ball and can be uprooted.  When moisture returns they turn green and bounce back.  Pretty cool really.   

As a note, I gotta say.  I'm astounded by the amount of stuff I've yet to learn, so much terminology, so many plants in varying degrees of evolution.  I'm overwhelmed at times but I'll keep on a tryin.