Selaginella pallescens(C.Presl) Spring

WFO wfo-0001113294 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Selaginella pallescens, photographed by José Belem Hernández Díaz
fig. a José Belem Hernández Díaz, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-08-04 / obs. 148679610
Selaginella pallescens, photographed by José Belem Hernández Díaz
fig. b José Belem Hernández Díaz, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 137237492
Selaginella pallescens, photographed by Oscar Alejandro Morales Juárez
fig. c Oscar Alejandro Morales Juárez, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 136613340
Selaginella pallescens, photographed by Oscar Alejandro Morales Juárez
fig. d Oscar Alejandro Morales Juárez, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 136613200
Selaginella pallescens, photographed by Oscar Alejandro Morales Juárez
fig. e Oscar Alejandro Morales Juárez, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 136613312
Selaginella pallescens, photographed by Daniel Galindo Espinosa
fig. f Daniel Galindo Espinosa, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 16289525
Selaginella pallescens, photographed by Viacheslav Shalisko
fig. g Viacheslav Shalisko, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 15208866
Selaginella pallescens, photographed by Nick Block
fig. h Nick Block, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 176165357

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 15 botanical countries

Regions where Selaginella pallescens is native: Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Suriname, Venezuela Mexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestBelizeColombiaCosta RicaEl SalvadorGuatemalaHondurasNicaraguaSurinameVenezuela
Native distribution of Selaginella pallescens, 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.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Belize BLZ SOUTHERN AMERICA
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
El Salvador ELS
Guatemala GUA
Honduras HON
Nicaragua NIC
Suriname SUR
Venezuela VEN
Mexico Central MXC NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS

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 26 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.

  • Lycopodioides cuspidata Kuntze
  • Lycopodium cordifolium Spring
  • Lycopodium cuspidatum Link
  • Lycopodium pallescens C.Presl
  • Selaginella albomarginata Fée ex E.Fourn.
  • Selaginella avilae Klotzsch ex Kunze
  • Selaginella cuspidata (Link) Link
  • Selaginella cuspidata var. elongata Spring
  • Selaginella cuspidata var. elongata Klotzsch & H.Karst. ex Kunze
  • Selaginella cuspidata var. emiliana (Van Geert) van Houtte ex G.Nicholson
  • Selaginella densifolia Klotzsch
  • Selaginella dentifolia Klotzsch ex Aberle
  • Selaginella elongata G.Schneid.
  • Selaginella emiliana W.Bull
  • Selaginella emiliana var. aurea Hill & Son
  • Selaginella emmeliana F.Schmitz
  • Selaginella emmeliana var. aurea Anon.
  • Selaginella incana Spring
  • Selaginella nidus-avis Ezcurdia
  • Selaginella pallasiana A.Braun
  • Selaginella pallescens f. aurea (Hill) Alston
  • Selaginella pallescens var. elongata Spring
  • Selaginella pallescens var. pallescens
  • Selaginella reticulata Klotzsch

and 2 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.