By Kevin Andros, Environmental Educator

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The title is a bit of an exaggeration but I wanted to hook you in to share a really cool group of plants that most people don’t even know exists. Clubmosses are an order of plants within the class Lycopods. Lycopods are the oldest surviving vascular plants which means they are some of the earliest plants that have specialized tissue to transfer water and nutrients throughout the plant. Some of the extinct species, during the carboniferous period, towered over rainforests at more than 100 feet tall. Now that we have the basics out of the way we can move on to the explosions. 

 

I lied. Before we get to explosions we need to talk about spores. Like many of the non-vascular plants (mosses, hornworts, liverworts, and algaes), Lycopods utilize spores to reproduce. Most vascular plants use seeds which have a few major differences when compared to spores. Spores are much smaller than seeds, often microscopic, and each plant can produce millions of spores. Their small size also lends itself to floating on the breeze very easily. 

 

If you have heard about the explosive potential of grain elevators you might be able to connect the dots on why I describe clubmosses as a plant that can explode. When there is dust floating in an enclosed space with adequate oxygen and you add a spark the dust itself combusts. Large grain elevator explosions can be lethal but clubmosses dropping spores out in the forest does not lead to any real risk as the spores aren’t confined and there is usually not an ignition source out in the woods. But historically humans have harnessed these plants’ explosive nature. Lycopodium powder is made from dried spores harvested from the common clubmoss. The first ever internal combustion machine was a boat powered by Lycopodium powder. It burns quickly which led to its use as a flash powder for early photography and as special effects for magicians/theaters. One other interesting property of this powder is how hydrophobic, or water repellent it is which leads to many uses in laboratory settings.

If you want to go out and see some clubmosses in the wild I have some good news for you. They are incredibly common across most of the east coast and many other parts of the world. The most abundant clubmoss in Connecticut is the very photogenic species Dendrolycopodium obscurum whose fitting common name is “princess pine”. Spring is the perfect time to learn about some new plants and go out and find them so I hope this inspired you to search for the nearest explosive plant!