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Selaginella bryopteris; photograph (c) Shikha Sreenivas, some rights reserved (CC BY) CC BY(c) Shikha Sreenivas, some rights reserved (CC BY) · observed growing wild · 2026-02-28

Selaginella bryopteris (L.) Baker

Selaginellaceae · Assam, Bangladesh +4

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Selaginella bryopteris, photograph (c) Shikha Sreenivas, some rights reserved (CC BY)Selaginella bryopteris, photograph (c) Ravuri Krishna Chaitanya, some rights reserved (CC BY)Selaginella bryopteris, photograph (c) Raja Sekhar Chimirala, some rights reserved (CC BY)Selaginella bryopteris, photograph (c) Ravuri Krishna Chaitanya, some rights reserved (CC BY)Selaginella bryopteris, photograph (c) Ravuri Krishna Chaitanya, some rights reserved (CC BY)Selaginella bryopteris, photograph (c) Ravuri Krishna Chaitanya, some rights reserved (CC BY) 18 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
10.8°C
Record low 7.5 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
37°C
Apr and May at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
935mm
6 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
26–43DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
A rainy season, June to September, neither the cool nor the warm half of the year. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Selaginella bryopteris (Devanagari:संजीवनी) is a lithophytic plant that is native to India. It is used medicinally in India and is one of the plants that is considered as a candidate to be the sanjeevani (also called "sanjeevini"or "sanjivini booti") plant.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Selaginella bryopteris", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Selaginella

Selaginella, also known as spikemosses or lesser clubmosses, is a genus of lycophyte. It is usually treated as the only genus in the family Selaginellaceae, with over 750 known species.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Selaginella", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a rainy season with no name: 70% of the median year's rain (734 mm of 937 mm) falls in June to September, whose mean temperature, 26.4 °C, is within half a degree of the year's, 26.1 °C, so it is neither the cooler nor the warmer part of the year. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: December to March.

Rain

937 mm in the median year at the habitat, 734 mm of it June to September. Wettest month August at 213 mm, driest month December at 5 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 891 mm to 1,857 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 935 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 937 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 26 to 43 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 25, the highest 90th-percentile month 44).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 10.8 °C, the absolute minimum 7.5 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 43.0 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 15.3 °C in December (across the grid cells of the range 11.5 °C to 15.5 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 37.3 °C in May (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 10.8 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 46 to 64% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected +3 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Selaginella bryopteris through the yearWarmest months April and May, mean daily high 37 °C; coldest month December, mean nightly low 15.3 °C; 937 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.0°10°20°30°40°50°43.0° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER7.5° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500mm rainDLI 26–43RH 46–64%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 7 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C28 / 23–2831 / 25–3134 / 28–3437 / 31–3737 / 32–3733 / 30–3329 / 27–2928 / 27–2829 / 27–2929 / 26–2928 / 24–2827 / 23–27
Night °C16 / 11–1618 / 12–1821 / 15–2124 / 18–2426 / 21–2624 / 22–2423 / 22–2322 / 21–2222 / 20–2220 / 17–2017 / 14–1815 / 12–16
Rain mm8 / 8–177 / 6–2120 / 19–4022 / 21–5226 / 25–112134 / 128–293200 / 188–455213 / 201–432187 / 180–30491 / 85–9824 / 21–265 / 5–10
DLI33 / 29–3338 / 34–3842 / 39–4243 / 42–4343 / 42–4433 / 32–3427 / 25–2826 / 25–2730 / 28–3132 / 30–3232 / 29–3231 / 27–32
RH %52 / 52–5348 / 48–5246 / 45–5046 / 45–5046 / 46–5257 / 56–6162 / 61–6664 / 63–6763 / 62–6559 / 58–6055 / 55–5753 / 53–55
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 7 grid cells holding the 12 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1451:5167 (17.425, 78.375). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 7.5 °C, 1st-percentile night 10.8 °C, 99th-percentile day 43.0 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 7 distinct grid cells holding 12 of the 12 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1451:5167 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 17.50_78.125, lapse-corrected +3 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 568 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeAssam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Nepal, West Himalaya · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker17.427, 78.396 · in the densest population, 11 records (92% of those in range)
Kew's description“perennial” · “wet tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate across the range rest on all 12 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 6 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker in the same place. 34 records outside the WCVP native range not used.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 12 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Selaginella bryopteris, photograph 1did not loadSelaginella bryopteris, photograph 2did not loadSelaginella bryopteris, photograph 3did not loadSelaginella bryopteris, photograph 4did not loadSelaginella bryopteris, photograph 5did not loadSelaginella bryopteris, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Shikha Sreenivas, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Ravuri Krishna Chaitanya, some rights reserved (CC BY) (4); (c) Raja Sekhar Chimirala, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Diospyros chloroxylon Diospyros chloroxylon Green ebony persimmon Photo: CC BY, Ravuri Krishna ChaitanyaSearsia mysorensis Searsia mysorensis Indian sumac Photo: CC BY, Ravuri Krishna ChaitanyaIxora pavetta Ixora pavetta Torch tree Photo: CC BY, Ravuri Krishna ChaitanyaColeus strobilifer Coleus strobilifer Lamiaceae Photo: CC BY, Ravuri Krishna ChaitanyaEuphorbia nivulia Euphorbia nivulia Euphorbiaceae Photo: CC BY, Ravuri Krishna ChaitanyaCatharanthus pusillus Catharanthus pusillus Tiny Periwinkle Photo: CC BY, Paulmathi Vinod

Other Selaginella 71 in the reference

Selaginella amoena Selaginellaceae Selaginella apoda Selaginella apoda Meadow spikemoss Photo: CC BY, Anne ParkerSelaginella arizonica Selaginella arizonica Arizona spikemoss Photo: CC BY, Rachel StringhamSelaginella biformis Selaginella biformis Selaginellaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedSelaginella bigelovii Selaginella bigelovii Bushy spikemoss Photo: CC BY, Matt BergerSelaginella braunii Selaginella braunii Braun's spikemoss Photo: CC BY-SA, Cymothoa exiguaSelaginella concinna Selaginella concinna Selaginellaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, patrice lefebvreSelaginella convoluta Selaginella convoluta Selaginellaceae Photo: CC BY, stephenSelaginella delicatula Selaginella delicatula Delicate spikemoss Photo: CC BY, Yu-Chang ChenSelaginella denticulata Selaginella denticulata Toothed-leaved Clubmoss Photo: CC BY, Sami TörnblomSelaginella diffusa Selaginella diffusa Selaginellaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, SalixSelaginella doederleinii Selaginella doederleinii Greater selaginella Photo: CC0, author not stated all 72 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Lycopodioides bryopteris; Lycopodioides imbricata; Lycopodium bryopteris; Lycopodium circinale; Lycopodium imbricatum and 4 more. (GBIF Backbone)

Kew accepts as species of their own Selaginella imbricata: older names in GBIF's record of this species that Kew's World Checklist accepts as other species. (WCVP, RBG Kew, file of 2026-06-04)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Selaginellaceae
Described by
(L.) Baker
Native to
Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya +3
Wild records
12 in range · 6 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 17.50_78.125, lapse-corrected +3 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 12 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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