Selaginella involvens(Sw.) Spring

WFO wfo-0000748166 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Selaginella involvens, photographed by Jacy Chen
fig. a Jacy Chen, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-01-26 / obs. 177517913
Selaginella involvens, photographed by Jacy Chen
fig. b Jacy Chen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 129294569
Selaginella involvens, photographed by Jacy Chen
fig. c Jacy Chen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 129232480
Selaginella involvens, photographed by Jacy Chen
fig. d Jacy Chen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 109509573
Selaginella involvens, photographed by Jacy Chen
fig. e Jacy Chen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 60835189
Selaginella involvens, photographed by harum.koh
fig. f harum.koh, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 8073316
Selaginella involvens, photographed by 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi)
fig. g 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi), CC BY 4.0 / obs. 32372598
Selaginella involvens, photographed by 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi)
fig. h 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi), CC BY 4.0 / obs. 181925335

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Native range 28 botanical countries

Regions where Selaginella involvens is native: China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Japan, Nansei-shoto, Taiwan, Tibet, Andaman Is., Assam, Borneo, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicobar Is., Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Caroline Is. China North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanJapanTaiwanTibetAssamBorneoCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMyanmarNepalPhilippinesSri LankaSulawesiThailandVietnamWest Himalaya Nansei-shotoAndaman Is.Nicobar Is.Caroline Is.
Native distribution of Selaginella involvens, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Assam ASS
Borneo BOR
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
Nicobar Is. NCB
Philippines PHI
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
China North-Central CHN ASIA-TEMPERATE
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Japan JAP
Nansei-shoto NNS
Taiwan TAI
Tibet CHT
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 37 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Kungiselaginella involvens (Sw.) Li Bing Zhang & X.M.Zhou
  • Kungiselaginella peltata (C.Presl) Li Bing Zhang & X.M.Zhou
  • Kungiselaginella polyura (Warb.) Li Bing Zhang & X.M.Zhou
  • Lycopodioides involvens (Sw.) Kuntze
  • Lycopodioides pennula (Desv.) Kuntze
  • Lycopodium caulescens Wall.
  • Lycopodium caulescens Wall. ex Hook. & Grev.
  • Lycopodium involvens Sw.
  • Lycopodium microstachyum Desv. ex Poir.
  • Selaginella bellula Ces.
  • Selaginella caudispica Alderw.
  • Selaginella caulescens (Wall. ex Hook. & Grev.) Spring
  • Selaginella caulescens f. minor Hieron.
  • Selaginella caulescens var. belulla (Ces.) Hieron.
  • Selaginella caulescens var. brachypoda Baker
  • Selaginella caulescens var. gracilis W.Bull
  • Selaginella caulescens var. japonica (T.Moore ex McNab) Baker
  • Selaginella caulescens var. minor Milde
  • Selaginella caulescens var. minor Sandford
  • Selaginella caulescens var. subintegerrima Spring
  • Selaginella fimbriata var. polyura Warb.
  • Selaginella homomorpha Klotzsch ex Milde
  • Selaginella involvens var. bellula (Ces.) Hieron.
  • Selaginella involvens var. variegata Veitch

and 13 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.