Fan Clubmoss (Lycopodium digitatum)

Lycopodium digitatum, the Fan Clubmoss, is a low, evergreen plant of eastern woodlands that looks like a carpet of tiny cedar seedlings. Its upright shoots branch into flat, fan-shaped sprays of scale-like leaves, and colonies spread across the forest floor on stems that run along the surface. It is also known as southern running-pine, southern ground-cedar and running cedar. Many current floras place it in the genus Diphasiastrum, as Diphasiastrum digitatum, and you will see both names in field guides and herbarium records.

Despite its common name, a clubmoss is not a moss. Clubmosses are lycophytes, an ancient group of vascular plants with true roots, stems and leaves, related to the giant tree-sized lycophytes whose remains formed much of the coal of the Carboniferous period. Like ferns they reproduce by spores, not seeds. In late summer the plant raises slender stalks topped with a cluster of yellow-green spore cones, which release clouds of fine yellow spores in fall.

Fan clubmoss was once gathered in huge quantities for Christmas wreaths and garlands. Wild colonies grow very slowly and recover poorly from that kind of harvesting. In practice it cannot be grown from nursery stock, and it should never be dug up or collected. This page is an identification and appreciation guide, with notes on where it grows and how to protect colonies on your land. Like other clubmosses it contains toxic alkaloids, so it should never be eaten.

Identification

Several flat-branched clubmosses grow in eastern North America, and they hybridize, so some plants are hard to name. Fan clubmoss is the most common and widespread of the group in the eastern United States, and it can usually be recognized by a few features of its stems and spore stalks.

Stems

The main stems creep horizontally along the surface of the ground or just under the leaf litter, often several feet long, and root at intervals. They are easy to see when the litter is pulled back. In the very similar blue ground-cedar (Diphasiastrum tristachyum) the horizontal stems run several inches deep in the soil. Upright shoots rise from the creeping stems at intervals and are usually 4 to 10 inches tall. Each shoot branches near the top into a spreading, flat, horizontal fan.

Leaves & Branchlets

The branchlets are flattened, about 1/8 inch wide, and covered in tiny scale-like leaves arranged in four rows, giving them a braided, cedar-like look. They are glossy green above and paler beneath. The branchlets grow evenly through the season and lack the obvious yearly constrictions, or “waists”, that mark the branchlets of northern running-pine (Diphasiastrum complanatum). The plant stays green all winter.

Spore Cones

In summer each fertile shoot sends up a slender stalk, usually 3 to 6 inches long, that forks near the top into a candelabra of two to four (sometimes more) upright spore cones (strobili). Each cone is narrow and about an inch long. The cones turn from green to yellow as they ripen in late summer and fall and release a fine yellow powder of spores. The dried stalks often remain standing into winter.

Life Cycle

Fan clubmoss has a two-stage life cycle. A spore that lands on suitable soil can grow into a tiny, underground, non-green gametophyte that lives on sugars supplied by soil fungi. These gametophytes may take many years to mature. Sperm and eggs form on the gametophyte, and after fertilization a new green plant grows from it. Because this process is so slow, most expansion of a colony comes from its creeping stems.

Native Range

Fan clubmoss is native to eastern North America. USDA PLANTS records it from 29 states, from Maine and the Great Lakes states west to Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri, and south through the Appalachians to Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas. In Canada it grows in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.

It is the most common flat-branched clubmoss over most of the eastern United States and is especially abundant in the Appalachians, the Piedmont, New England and the northern Great Lakes states. It becomes scarce toward the western and southern edges of its range, on the Gulf Coastal Plain and in the prairie states.

Fan clubmoss grows in dry to moderately moist, acid woods: oak and oak-pine forests, second-growth woods on old farmland, the edges of clearings and powerline cuts, and open, brushy hillsides. It often colonizes abandoned fields as they return to forest, and large colonies can persist for decades as the canopy develops.

📋 Regional plant lists featuring Fan Clubmoss: New York, Pennsylvania & Northern New Jersey · Ohio & Indiana · Michigan, Wisconsin & Eastern Minnesota · Kentucky & Tennessee · Connecticut, Massachusetts & Rhode Island · New Hampshire, Maine & Vermont · Maryland, Virginia & West Virginia · Delaware, Southern New Jersey & Long Island · Illinois, Iowa & Missouri · Alabama, Georgia & Mississippi

Growing & Care Guide

Fan clubmoss is a plant to admire and protect rather than plant. It depends on soil fungi for part of its life, it establishes extremely slowly, and transplanted pieces almost always fail. In practice it is not available as nursery-propagated stock. Never dig it from the wild or collect it for wreaths. The sections below describe the conditions where it grows and how to look after colonies that already exist on your property.

Light

In the wild it grows in light to moderate shade under oaks and pines, and in partly open places such as woodland edges, clearings and young forests on old fields. Colonies can tolerate fairly deep shade but grow more slowly there.

Soil & Water

It grows in acid, well-drained, often sandy or rocky soils that are low in nutrients. It tolerates dry periods well once established and does not grow in wet, poorly drained ground. Lime, fertilizer and rich garden soil are harmful.

Planting Tips

Fan clubmoss is not a plant to add to a garden. If a colony already grows on your land, protect the area around it. Avoid trampling, digging, raking away the leaf litter, or spreading mulch or fertilizer over it, and keep heavy equipment off it. Colonies can be damaged by soil disturbance during logging, construction or trail building. A good native ground cover for similar shady, acid sites is checkerberry, which is widely available from nurseries.

Pruning & Maintenance

No maintenance is needed. Do not cut the shoots for decorations. Large wild harvests have depleted colonies in the past, and cut stems take years to regrow. Removing invasive plants such as Japanese stiltgrass or Japanese barberry that crowd into colonies is helpful.

Propagation

Fan clubmoss spreads naturally by its creeping surface stems and, rarely, by spores. Spores grow into underground gametophytes that need soil fungi and can take many years to produce a new plant, so propagation from spores is not practical. Transplanted sections of stem seldom establish. Leave all wild plants in place.

Landscape Uses

• Nature study: a living example of the ancient lycophyte lineage, easy to find in winter woods
• Woodland stewardship: existing colonies indicate long-undisturbed, acid woodland soils and are worth protecting
• Photography: striking evergreen texture on the forest floor in every season
• Teaching: illustrates spore reproduction and plant evolution

Wildlife & Ecological Value

Fan clubmoss is not a food plant for much wildlife, but its evergreen mats add cover and structure to the forest floor all year.

For Pollinators

Clubmosses do not flower and offer no nectar or usable pollen, so fan clubmoss has no value for pollinators. Its spores are spread by wind.

For Birds

The evergreen mats give some cover to ground-dwelling birds and their prey, such as insects and spiders. Birds do not generally feed on the plant.

For Mammals

Deer and other mammals rarely browse it, probably because of its tough texture and alkaloid content. The dense mats offer cover for small rodents, salamanders and other small animals.

Ecosystem Role

Fan clubmoss is one of the first long-lived evergreen ground covers to appear as abandoned fields turn back into forest, and colonies can persist for decades. Its underground gametophyte stage depends on mycorrhizal fungi for food, linking it to the fungal networks of the forest soil. Its year-round green leaves continue to photosynthesize in winter when the canopy above is bare.

Cultural & Historical Uses

For generations, clubmosses such as fan clubmoss were gathered in large quantities in the eastern United States as “ground pine” and “running cedar” for Christmas wreaths, swags and garlands. Because colonies grow so slowly, heavy harvesting depleted them in many places, and some states have introduced rules on commercial collection. Today, buying wreaths made from cultivated greenery helps protect wild colonies.

Clubmoss spores, sold as lycopodium powder, are very fine, waterproof and flammable. They were once used in early photographic flash powder, in fireworks and stage effects, and by pharmacists to coat pills. Most of the commercial powder came from other clubmoss species, mainly Lycopodium clavatum.

The name Lycopodium means “wolf’s foot”, from the resemblance of the branch tips of some species to a paw, and digitatum means “finger-like”, for the spreading branchlets. Safety note: clubmosses contain lycopodium alkaloids that can be toxic, so never eat any part of the plant or use it in home remedies, and keep children and pets from chewing it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is fan clubmoss a moss?
No. It is a lycophyte, a vascular plant with roots, stems and leaves, more closely related to ferns than to true mosses. It reproduces by spores, which are produced in small cones on stalks above the plant.

Can I plant fan clubmoss in my garden?
In practice, no. It depends on soil fungi, establishes very slowly, and transplanted pieces almost always fail. It is not available as nursery-propagated stock, and wild plants should never be dug. If you have it already, protect the colony.

Is fan clubmoss the same as Diphasiastrum digitatum?
Yes. USDA PLANTS lists it as Lycopodium digitatum, while many floras now use Diphasiastrum digitatum, placing the flat-branched clubmosses in their own genus. Both names refer to the same plant.

Is fan clubmoss poisonous?
Clubmosses contain alkaloids that can be toxic if eaten. Do not eat it or use it as a home remedy, and keep pets and children from chewing on it. Handling the plant is not considered dangerous.

Can I collect fan clubmoss for wreaths?
Please don’t. Colonies take many years to grow, and harvesting has depleted them in the past. Some states regulate collection. Use cultivated greenery such as fir, pine or cedar boughs instead.