Selaginella rupestris
A tiny, mat-forming spikemoss of dry, sunny rock ledges and sandy outcrops in eastern North America. Unlike tropical Selaginella, it is drought-adapted: it curls up when dry and reopens after rain. It needs bright light, fast drainage, a cold winter and periods of drying, and it usually fails in a closed humid terrarium.
Where it grows wild
It grows in dry, rocky places: thin soil on granite and sandstone ledges, cliff tops, rock outcrops and sandy barrens, often among lichens and mosses in open, exposed spots. When dry it curls into a tight grey mat, then greens again after rain.
From low elevations to the mountains of eastern North America, with one outlying site in Greenland.
🔒 Growing it like that
The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:
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More Selaginella
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 3.0 licence, unmodified.