There are no verified occurrences, only 2 historical specimens in the state, not surveyed yet.
In 2009, Fir Clubmoss was rediscovered in New York State for the first time since 1914. It was found in growing in sandy soil, in poor pasture reverting to dense cedar. The few historical records of this species in the state are also from pasturelands (New York Natural Heritage Program 2011). Ditches, swales, swamps, rarely into alpine zone (Haines 1998). Terrestrial in sandy borrow pits, ditches, lakeshore swales, and conifer swamps, rarely on acidic, igneous rock or calcareous coast cliffs (FNA 1993a).
* probable association but not confirmed.
This low herb is known from one locality in St. Lawrence County with historical records also in St. Lawrence County and one place in Essex County.
Fir Clubmoss is best sought when the "fruit"(spores) are present, from July through September.
The time of year you would expect to find Northern Firmoss vegetative and fruiting in New York.
Northern Firmoss
Huperzia selago (L.) Bernh. ex Mart. & Schrank
Fernald, M.L. 1950. Gray's manual of botany. 8th edition. D. Van Nostrand, New York. 1632 pp.
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York. 910 pp.
Holmgren, Noel. 1998. The Illustrated Companion to Gleason and Cronquist's Manual. Illustrations of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York.
Kartesz, J.T., and R. Kartesz. 1980. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada and Greenland. Vol. 2. The biota of North America. Univ. of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. 500 pp.
Mitchell, Richard S. 1992. A checklist of New York State plants. Revised edition.
Mitchell, Richard. 1986. Interview with Steven Clemants of November 7, 1986.
New York Natural Heritage Program. 2023. New York Natural Heritage Program Databases. Albany, NY.
Weldy, T. and D. Werier. 2010. New York flora atlas. [S.M. Landry, K.N. Campbell, and L.D. Mabe (original application development), Florida Center for Community Design and Research http://www.fccdr.usf.edu/. University of South Florida http://www.usf.edu/]. New York Flora Association http://newyork.plantatlas.usf.edu/, Albany, New York
Information for this guide was last updated on: August 10, 2011
Please cite this page as:
New York Natural Heritage Program. 2023.
Online Conservation Guide for
Huperzia selago.
Available from: https://guides.nynhp.org/fir-clubmoss/.
Accessed December 8, 2023.