Clubmosses (Lycopodiaceae)

This group gathers Ferns and Fern Allies subcategory members belonging to the family Lycopodiaceae, the clubmosses, small, superficially moss-like vascular plants that are, despite the common name and appearance, more closely related to ferns than to true mosses, and belong to one of the oldest surviving lineages of land plants on Earth. Clubmosses typically grow as low, creeping or upright plants covered in small, simple, scale-like leaves called microphylls, a distinct leaf type, with a single unbranched vein, found only in the lycophytes and in no fern or flowering plant. Many species reproduce via spores released from club-shaped or cone-like structures at the tips of certain stems, which give the group its common name, and the spores of several clubmoss species have historically been collected and used as a highly flammable powder in early photography flash devices and stage theatrical effects.