Selaginella kraussiana 'Aurea'

Golden Club Moss Selaginellaceae

A beautiful golden form of the little African clubmoss, making a low, spreading carpet of intricately branched stems clothed in tiny, overlapping leaves. The young growth is particularly bright, opening yellow-gold before becoming greener with age, although the intensity of colour varies considerably with light and growing conditions. Excellent for the woodland floor, alpine house or shaded trough, where its fine texture can be appreciated at close quarters.

The species is native to Macaronesia and tropical and southern Africa, occurring in moist, mossy forest and on mountain slopes. Its natural range includes the Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands, and extends through much of tropical Africa and southwards into South Africa, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It is a plant of humid habitats rather than a dryland species. 

‘Aurea’ has a surprisingly long horticultural pedigree. William Bull published Selaginella kraussiana var. aurea in his Nursery Catalogue in 1880, making this one of the early cultivated golden forms of the species. Kew now treats S. kraussiana var. aurea as a synonym of S. kraussiana, while the plant continues to be grown horticulturally as ‘Aurea’. 

The species itself was originally described as Lycopodium kraussianum by Gustav Kunze in 1844, before Alexander Braun transferred it to Selaginella in 1860. The older names Lycopodium kraussianum and Lycopodioides kraussiana therefore turn up in historical literature. 

• Hardiness: H4, -10 to -5°C
• Height: 5–10 cm
• Spread: 30–60 cm
• Foliage: Evergreen