Secret Stories of the Club Moss: Lycopodium

Lycopodium aka Ground Pine

Lycopodium complanatum (aka Ground Pine, Running Pine, Ground Cedar and Crow’s foot)

The word, Lycopodium, stems from the Greek word for wolf (lykos) and foot (podium) and, quite honestly, I don’t know why Linnaeus chose to name them that, but I do know a few other things about this evergreen ground cover that I think you will find interesting.

Lycopodium is a plant that has been used throughout the world and in many cultures as medicine.  It is used as a homeopathic treatment for a variety of ailments, but it should be noted that the plant itself contains lycopodine which is poisonous and affects nerve function.  Sadly, I did read that during WWII lycopodium was used as an ingredient for use as a biological weapon. That said, the spore powder is nontoxic and can be used topically for skin irritations and even to stop bleeding.

Ancient Life

In today’s world lycopodium is no larger than a gnome’s knee but way back, before the dinosaurs—during the Carboniferous Period--they were the size of giants, just like everything else in that period.  There were poisonous centipedes and scorpions that were 6 feet long!  The average cockroach measured in at around 2 feet and the dragonflies had wingspans of 12 feet as well!  Yikes! 

At that time, Lycopodium soared to over 100 feet in height and they were everywhere. In fact, a lot of the coal that we burn today comes from their fossilized remains. So, the next time you turn on a light, remember you have lycopodium to thank for that! 

Spore Powder

So, lycopodium are some of the oldest plants on earth, but they never evolved into a flowering plant. s They still reproduce by releasing spores in the form of a dusty powder.  That powder has a very high fat content which makes it highly flammable, and it’s been used to create gunpowder, fireworks, and as flash powder for the old timey camera flashes. Lycopodium flash powder was also used extensively in the world of theater to create dramatic explosions and even gunshots, and if you’ve ever seen a circus performer spit fire, it’s probably because they are using lycopodium powder. The powder was also used to get the very first internal combustion engine going!

Lycopodium powder also has also been used in a number of other, less explosive applications as well. Because it repels water, it’s been used cosmetically in talcum powders to help absorb moisture and and sweat. For you CSI fans out there, it’s also been used as dusting powder for detecting finger prints.

The powder also has a lubricating effect and has been in products like medical gloves and condoms.  I even read where it has been used as an ice cream stabilizer?  Not sure what that means, or if I really want to know more about that, so I will just leave that one alone for now.  But here is another cool thing, scientists use the powder to make ultrasonic sound waves visible, so they can observe and measure their movements! 

All these interesting facts made me wonder…back during the Carboniferous period, when all the lycopodium trees were releasing their spores into the air in what I can only image were great clouds and drifts, was the air flammable? And could you see sound? Hmmm... Interesting to consider, don’t you think?

 Let me know if you have any interesting information about Lycopodium. I would love to know! Just drop your stories in the comments below!