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Species library › Selaginella › Selaginella haematodes
Terrarium Well documented

Selaginella haematodes

A tall, upright spikemoss of Neotropical rainforest from Panama to Bolivia, named for its blood-red stems (haematodes means blood-like). It grows in the humid shade of lowland and lower-montane forest, often beside streams, and in cultivation needs a warm, very humid terrarium or greenhouse, low light and constant moisture.

Selaginella haematodes
Photo: Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Very humid airBand in Plantistry
Light ShadeDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Forest floor in humid lowland and premontane rainforest, frequently along streams; one Colombian label notes it growing upright beside a creek. It forms frond-like shoots from a creeping base in deep shade.

Recorded at 0–4375 m with a median of 610 m (442 records); a Colombian checklist gives 50–2500 m, so the highest records are probably errors.

BoliviaBrazil NorthColombiaEcuadorPanamáPeruVenezuela

🔒 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

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, unmodified.