Dendrolycopodium hickeyi

(W.H. Wagner, Beitel, & R.C. Moran) A. Haines

Hickey's Clubmoss

G5Secure Found in 10 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
UnknownThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.133886
Element CodePPLYC011E0
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVascular Plant
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomPlantae
PhylumLycophyta
ClassLycopodiopsida
OrderLycopodiales
FamilyLycopodiaceae
GenusDendrolycopodium
Synonyms
Lycopodium hickeyiW.H. Wagner, Beitel & Moran
Other Common Names
Hickey's tree-clubmoss (EN) Lycopode de Hickey (FR) Pennsylvania Clubmoss (EN) Pennsylvania clubmoss (EN) Pennsylvania Ground-pine (EN)
Concept Reference
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Conservation Status
Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2
Review Date2024-03-27
Change Date1993-05-31
Edition Date2024-03-27
Edition AuthorsSoteropoulos (2024)
Threat ImpactUnknown
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences> 300
Rank Reasons
Dendrolycopodium hickeyi is a wide-ranging perennial subshrub fern ally in forest openings, bogs, and grassy balds in eastern and central North America from Newfoundland and Labrador west to Saskatchewan in Canada and Minnesota in the United states south to Indiana to Tennessee and North Carolina. Threats include habitat succession, rights-of-way maintenance activities, recreational activities, deer browse, and invasive species. Little is known about trends, but with a large range extent and over 900 occurrences this species is considered secure.
Range Extent Comments
Dendrolycopodium hickeyi occurs in eastern and central North America from Newfoundland and Labrador west to Saskatchewan in Canada and Minnesota in the United states south to Indiana to Tennessee and North Carolina (FNA 1993, Weakley and the Southeastern Flora Team 2023). Range extent was estimated to be over 6.1 million square kilometers using herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data documented between 1993 and 2024 (GBIF 2024, iNaturalist 2024, NatureServe 2024, SEINet 2024).
Occurrences Comments
By applying a 1 km separation distance to herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data documented between 1993 and 2024, it is estimated that there are over 900 occurrences rangewide (GBIF 2024, iNaturalist 2024, NatureServe 2024, SEINet 2024).
Threat Impact Comments
Although threats are not widely documented, Dendrolycopodium hickeyi is threatened by succession leading to shading, rights-of-way maintenance activities (powerline, railroad, and roadside), recreational activities, deer browse, invasive species (including Centaurea stoebe, Microstegium vimineum, Persicaria longiseta), and other threats in some places, though there is insufficient data, including anecdotal accounts, to understand scope and severity of threats for this species.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Dendrolycopodium hickeyi grows in "grassy balds, bog margins, forest openings, acidic ridgetop forests" (Weakley and the Southeastern Flora Team 2023), "mainly in hardwood forests and second-growth, shrubby habitats" (FNA 1993).
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest/WoodlandForest - HardwoodShrubland/chaparralGrassland/herbaceous
Palustrine Habitats
Bog/fen
Other Nations (2)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
WashingtonSNRYes
West VirginiaS3Yes
MichiganSNRYes
ConnecticutSNRYes
DelawareSNRYes
TennesseeSNRYes
New HampshireSNRYes
MarylandSNRYes
New YorkS5Yes
OhioSNRYes
IllinoisS1Yes
PennsylvaniaSNRYes
KentuckyS4Yes
MinnesotaSNRYes
VirginiaS3Yes
Rhode IslandSNRYes
MaineSNRYes
VermontS5Yes
WisconsinSNRYes
South CarolinaS1Yes
MassachusettsSNRYes
North CarolinaS2Yes
IndianaS3Yes
New JerseyS3Yes
CanadaN5
ProvinceRankNative
New BrunswickS4Yes
ManitobaS3Yes
OntarioS4Yes
AlbertaSUYes
Prince Edward IslandS3Yes
SaskatchewanS1Yes
QuebecS4Yes
Island of NewfoundlandS1Yes
Nova ScotiaS4Yes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
Unknown/undetermined

Plant Characteristics
DurationPERENNIAL
Economic Value (Genus)No
Roadless Areas (10)
New Hampshire (2)
AreaForestAcres
KearsargeWhite Mountain National Forest4,554
KilkennyWhite Mountain National Forest28,766
North Carolina (3)
AreaForestAcres
Boteler PeakNantahala National Forest4,205
Middle Prong AdditionPisgah National Forest1,852
Sam Knob (addition)Pisgah National Forest2,576
Tennessee (1)
AreaForestAcres
Slide HollowCherokee National Forest4,057
Virginia (1)
AreaForestAcres
Little Wilson Creek Addition BJefferson National Forest1,725
West Virginia (3)
AreaForestAcres
Cranberry AdditionMonongahela National Forest11,123
Cranberry Glades Botanical AreaMonongahela National Forest785
Falls Of Hills CreekMonongahela National Forest6,925
References (8)
  1. Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 1993a. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 2. Pteridophytes and gymnosperms. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xvi + 475 pp.
  2. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). 2024. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data portal. Online. Available: https://www.gbif.org/ (accessed 2024).
  3. iNaturalist. 2024. Online. Available: https://www.inaturalist.org (accessed 2024).
  4. Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
  5. NatureServe. 2024. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia.
  6. Petlewski, A.R., D.A. Hauser, M. Kim, J. Schmutz, J. Grimwood, and F.-W. Li. 2022. Re-evaluating the systematics of <i>Dendrolycopodium </i>using restriction-site associated DNA-sequencing. Front. Plant Sci. 13: 1-10.
  7. Southwest Environmental Information Network (SEINet). 2024. Collections Databases. Online. Available: https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/collections/index.php (accessed 2024).
  8. Weakley, A.S., and Southeastern Flora Team. 2023. Flora of the southeastern United States. Edition of April 14, 2023. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 2105 pp.