Species library › Selaginella › Selaginella asprella
Terrarium Well documented

Selaginella asprella

A mat-forming spikemoss of rocky mountains in California and northern Baja California, growing in granite and metavolcanic crevices, on cliffs and on gravelly 'pebble plains'. It curls and dries in the summer drought and greens up again with rain or snowmelt. This is a dryland rock plant for a bright, airy trough, not a humid terrarium plant.

At home, aim for
Day Cool-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Dry airBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows on rock (lithophyte)

Where it grows wild

Rock outcrops, cliff faces, boulder crevices and canyon walls, often in mesic nooks and cracks of granite, metavolcanic, quartzite or limestone rock, and on open pebble plains and ridges among chaparral and montane conifer forest. It forms flat mats of fragile, easily broken stems.

Specimen elevations run from about 730 m to 3100 m, with a median near 1830 m and most between about 950 and 2700 m.

California: Klamath MountainsCalifornia: Transverse Ranges (San Gabriel, San Bernardino)California: Peninsular Ranges (San Jacinto, Santa Rosa, Laguna)Baja California: Sierra Juárez and Sierra San Pedro Mártir

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

Grow Selaginella asprella? Add it to a free garden and its full profile opens. Pro opens all 38,374 profiles in the library, plants and fungi.

Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app.