Editing Lycopodium

{{Short description|Genus of vascular plants in the family Lycopodiaceae}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Lycopodium clavatum 151207.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Lycopodium clavatum]]''
| taxon = Lycopodium
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]<ref name=CFLW/>
| type_species = ''[[Lycopodium clavatum]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision  = See text
}}

'''''Lycopodium''''' (from [[Ancient Greek]] ''lykos'', wolf and ''podion'', diminutive of ''pous'', foot)<ref>{{LSJ|lu/kos|λύκος}}, {{LSJ|pou/s|πούς|ref}}.</ref> is a [[genus]] of [[clubmoss]]es, also known as '''ground pines''' or '''creeping cedars''',<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/club_moss.aspx#1E1-clubmoss The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2008]</ref> in the family [[Lycopodiaceae]]. Two very different [[Circumscription (taxonomy)|circumscriptions]] of the genus are in use. In the [[Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group]] classification of 2016 (PPG I), ''Lycopodium'' is one of nine genera in the subfamily [[Lycopodioideae]], and has from nine to 15 species.<ref name=CFLW/><ref name=PPGI/> In other classifications, the genus is equivalent to the whole of the subfamily, since it includes all of the other genera. More than 40 species are accepted.<ref name=POWO_30000138-2/>

==Description==
{{more citations needed|section|date=December 2019}}
They are [[flower]]less, vascular, terrestrial or [[epiphyte|epiphytic]] [[plant]]s, with widely branched, erect, prostrate, or creeping stems, with small, simple, needle-like or scale-like [[leaf|leaves]] that cover the stem and branches thickly.<ref name="EB1911" /> The stems usually creep along the ground, forking at intervals.<ref name="Peninsula">{{Cite book |last=Levyns |first=M.R. |title=A Guide to the Flora of the Cape Peninsula |publisher=Juta & Company, Limited |year=1966 |edition=2nd Revised |oclc=621340}}</ref> The leaves contain a single, unbranched vascular strand, and are [[microphyll]]s by definition.<ref name="EB1911" /> They are usually arranged in spirals.<ref name="Peninsula" /> The kidney-shaped (reniform) [[spore]]-cases ([[sporangium|sporangia]]) contain spores of one kind only, ([[spore|isosporous, homosporous]]), and are borne on the upper surface of the leaf blade of specialized leaves (sporophylls) arranged in a cone-like [[strobilus]] at the end of upright stems.<ref name=EB1911/> Each sporangium contains numerous small spores.<ref name="Peninsula" /> The club-shaped appearance of these fertile stems gives the clubmosses their common name.

Lycopods reproduce asexually by spores. The plants have an underground sexual phase that produces [[gamete]]s, and this alternates in the lifecycle with the spore-producing plant. The prothallium developed from the spore is a subterranean mass of tissue of considerable size, and bears both the male and female organs ([[antheridium|antheridia]] and [[archegonia]]).<ref name=EB1911/>  They are more commonly distributed vegetatively, though, through above- or below-ground [[rhizomes]].

==Taxonomy==
The genus ''Lycopodium'' was first published by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in 1753.<ref name="IPNI_30000138-2">{{cite web |title=''Lycopodium'' L. |work=[[International Plant Names Index|The International Plant Names Index]] |url=https://www.ipni.org/n/30000138-2 |access-date=2019-12-21 }}</ref> He placed it in the Musci (mosses) along with genera such as ''[[Sphagnum]]'', and included species such as ''Lycopodium selaginoides'',<ref name=Linn53>{{Citation |mode=cs1 |last1=Linnaeus |first1=C. |date=1753 |contribution=Lycopodium |title=Species Plantarum |volume=II |pages=1100ff |contribution-url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/359121 |access-date=2019-12-21  }}</ref> now placed in the genus ''[[Selaginella]]'' in a different order from ''Lycopodium''. Different sources use substantially different [[Circumscription (taxonomy)|circumscriptions]] of the genus. Traditionally, ''Lycopodium'' was considered to be the only extant genus in the family [[Lycopodiaceae]], so includes all the species in the family, although sometimes excluding one placed in the monotypic genus ''[[Phylloglossum]]''.<ref name=Spor66>{{Citation |mode=cs1 |last1=Sporne |first1=K.R. |date=1966 |title=The Morphology of Pteridophytes |edition=2nd |location=London |publisher=Hutchinson |at=chap. 4 |oclc=253704767 }}</ref> Other sources divide Lycopodiaceae species into three broadly defined genera, ''Lycopodium'', ''Huperzia'' (including ''Phylloglossum'') and ''Lycopodiella''. In this approach, ''Lycopodium'' [[Sensu|sensu lato]] has about 40 species.<ref name=ChriChas14>{{Cite journal |last1=Christenhusz |first1=Maarten J.M. |last2=Chase |first2=Mark W. |date=2014 |title=Trends and concepts in fern classification |journal=Annals of Botany |volume=113 |issue=9 |pages=571–594 |doi=10.1093/aob/mct299 |pmid=24532607 |pmc=3936591 |name-list-style=amp }}</ref><ref name=POWO_30000138-2/> In the [[Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group]] classification of 2016 (PPG I), the broadly defined genus is equivalent to the subfamily [[Lycopodioideae]], and ''Lycopodium'' is one of 16 genera in the family Lycopodiaceae, with between 9 and 15 species.<ref name=CFLW/><ref name=PPGI/>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Varying circumscriptions of ''Lycopodium''
|-
! Traditional<ref name=Spor66/> !! Christenhusz & Chase (2014)<ref name=ChriChas14/> !! PPG I<ref name=PPGI/>
|-
|rowspan=2| '''''Lycopodium'''''<br/>+ ''Phylloglossum'' || '''''Lycopodium''''' s.l. || '''''Lycopodium''''' s.s. + 8 other genera making up subfamily [[Lycopodioideae]]
|-
| Two other genera || 7 genera (including ''Phylloglossum'') in two subfamilies
|}

===Species===
[[File:EB1911 Lycopodium -Fig. 1 - Lycopodium clavatum.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''Lycopodium clavatum'']]
Using the narrow [[Circumscription (taxonomy)|circumscription]] of ''Lycopodium'', in which it is one of nine genera in the subfamily  Lycopodioideae, the ''Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World'' recognized the following species {{As of|2024|June|lc=yes}}:<ref name=CFLW/>
*''[[Lycopodium clavatum]]'' <small>L.</small> – stag's-horn clubmoss; subcosmopolitan
*''[[Lycopodium diaphanum]]'' <small>(P.Beauv.) Sw.</small> – [[Tristan da Cunha]]
*''[[Lycopodium japonicum]]'' <small>Thunb.</small> – eastern Asia (Japan west and south to [[India]] and [[Sri Lanka]])
*''[[Lycopodium lagopus]]'' <small>(Laest. ex C.Hartm.) Zinserl. ex Kuzen.</small> – circumpolar arctic and subarctic
*''[[Lycopodium papuanum]]'' <small>Nessel</small> – New Guinea
*''[[Lycopodium venustulum]]'' <small>Gaudich.</small> – [[Hawaii]], [[Western Samoa]], the [[Society Islands]]
*''[[Lycopodium vestitum]]'' <small>Desv. ex Poir.</small> – northwest South America (Andes)

==Uses==
The spores of ''Lycopodium'' species are harvested and are sold as [[lycopodium powder]].

''Lycopodium '' sp. herb has been used in the traditional Austrian medicine internally as tea or externally as compresses for treatment of disorders of the locomotor system, skin, liver and bile, kidneys and urinary tract, infections, rheumatism, and gout,<ref>{{Cite journal
 | pmid = 23770053
| pmc = 3791396
| year = 2013
| last1 = Vogl
| first1 = S
| title = Ethnopharmacological in vitro studies on Austria's folk medicine—an unexplored lore in vitro anti-inflammatory activities of 71 Austrian traditional herbal drugs
| journal = Journal of Ethnopharmacology
| volume = 149
| issue = 3
| pages = 750–71
| last2 = Picker
| first2 = P
| last3 = Mihaly-Bison
| first3 = J
| last4 = Fakhrudin
| first4 = N
| last5 = Atanasov
| first5 = A. G.
| last6 = Heiss
| first6 = E. H.
| last7 = Wawrosch
| first7 = C
| last8 = Reznicek
| first8 = G
| last9 = Dirsch
| first9 = V. M.
| last10 = Saukel
| first10 = J
| last11 = Kopp
| first11 = B
| doi = 10.1016/j.jep.2013.06.007
}}</ref> though claims of efficacy are unproven. It has also been used in some United States government chemical warfare test programs such as [[Operation Dew]].<ref name=nrc>[[U.S. National Research Council]], Subcommittee on Zinc Cadmium Sulfide. [https://books.google.com/books?id=0YdRGhvBfRoC&pg=RA1-PA64&dq=%22Operation+Dew%22#PRA1-PA64,M1 ''Toxicologic Assessment of the Army's Zinc Cadmium Sulfide Dispersion''], National Academies Press, 1997, pp. 44–77, {{ISBN|0309057833}}.</ref> ''Lycopodium'' powder was also used to determine the molecular size of [[oleic acid]].{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=CFLW>{{cite WF |taxon=Lycopodium |access-date=2024-06-02}}</ref>

<ref name=POWO_30000138-2>{{cite web |title=''Lycopodium'' L. |work=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30000138-2 |access-date=2019-12-09 }}</ref>

<ref name=PPGI>{{citation |mode=cs1 |author=PPG I |year=2016 |title=A community-derived classification for extant lycophytes and ferns |journal=Journal of Systematics and Evolution |volume=54 |issue=6 |pages=563–603 |doi=10.1111/jse.12229|s2cid=39980610 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

<ref name=EB1911>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Lycopodium |volume=17 |page=153}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikispecies}}
* [http://www.angelo.edu/faculty/kboudrea/demos/lycopodium/lycopodium.htm Burning ''Lycopodium'' Powder: Simulating a Grain Elevator Explosion] by Kevin A. Boudreaux

{{Taxonbar|from=Q624488}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Lycopodiaceae]]
[[Category:Lycophyte genera]]