# Primitive Plant ID Needed



## pitbulllady (Sep 28, 2012)

I picked this up today at a roadside produce stand/flea market/yard sale when I stopped to buy some boiled peanuts; the guy selling it had some plants that he said were part of an estate sale, and he was told that it was a fern of some sort, but I'm not sure if it is a true fern or one of the spike mosses, like a _Selaginella sp._.  It's in a six-inch pot and seems to be in fairly good shape, even though the soil in the pot was dry.  The plant has a very stiff, almost wiry texture similar to my _Selaginella martinsii_.  Anyone got a clue what it really is?

Here's a few pics:
















pitbulllady


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## Low (Sep 28, 2012)

No idea on an id but the stems look too woody to be a selaginella....i could be wrong but I doubt selaginella.

From the pics it almost looks coniferous....

Good luck with the id..


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## SamuraiSid (Sep 29, 2012)

It looks an awful lot like a particular native species around here.... Id have to find the plant and take a pic to be sure though...

Edit: I just showed my wife, and she says she has seen them around here as well.

Perhaps some sort of coniferous fern shrub?


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## pitbulllady (Sep 29, 2012)

Found out what it is, as I was able to track down the nursery where it was originally purchased, Indigo Marsh Nursery in Florence, SC.  As I suspected, it IS indeed a _Selaginella, S. pallucens_ to be exact, commonly referred to as "Arbor Vitae Fern" after the popular evergreen cypress shrub it does indeed resemble.
I really need to go back to this amazing place when I've got some money; I'm quite surprised I didn't know about it before and I only found out by asking the guy at the roadside stand where he'd gotten this plant.  They have a nice fern selection, which isn't common to see, as most places only carry the Boston ferns.  

pitbulllady


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## Low (Sep 29, 2012)

I stand corrected...
Very nice nonetheless...


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