Lycopodium fertile

 Scientific Name: Lycopodium clavatum
 Systematic Position:
Division: Pteridophyta
Class : Lepidophyta
Order : Lycopodiales
Family: Lycopodiaceae
Genus: Lycopodium
 Common name: Club moss, Stag's-horn, Ground pine.
 Lycopodium Habit with Cones:
 Lycopodium is a sporophytic plant that reproduces sexually.
 Plants are homosporous, i.e. they produce only one type of spore.
 Spores are produced in sporangia which, in turn, are produced on fertile leaves, known as
sporophylls.
 Usually, the sporophylls are combined to form a cone-shaped structure called the
strobilus or cone.
 Sporophylls are placed in a spiral on the central axis of the strobilus.
 Sporangia are structures similar to sacs, but usually in the form of kidneys. Their colours
vary from orange to yellow.
 The spores are arranged in a tetrahedral manner within the sporangia.
 The spores produce the prothallus after germination.
 Source: University Botany-I by S.M. Reddy.