Possibly a good desert terr plant?

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Galapoheros

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I came across one that might last a while with a decent light in your desert setups. I bought a couple ($3) from a guy that's been selling desert plants for decades here. They are a Lycopodioides sp, from Africa. He said they don't like it too hot and like some shade, I only realized when I got home that they might do well in desert terrs with a decent light since he said they like some shade. I plan on trying it later. They are shaped a little like mini saguaro cactus, if you're into terr designing, they might work and look kinda cool.

 
Rabid538

Rabid538

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Very cool plant. I have never seen one like that before.
 
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rasputin

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They are from a family of club mosses. The above species is, in all likeleyhood, Lycopodium aberdaricum. Interesting note about these plants is that they can "die," or so appear, and be brought back to life. This is done by the plant going into a state of dormancy and curling up into a discolored (usually brown or red) ball when it's too hot or too dry. The plant springs back to life when it receives moisture and the temp goes down. At any rate, that's a little bit of info on plants within that class of plant life. I wouldn't mind seeing how resilient these are in person. Possibly try them out with C. vittatus (C. vittatus due to their errant nature and adaptability).
 
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Galapoheros

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I'm not sure if this is the same plant you brought up. I think the one I have here might be Crassula lycopodioides. This one is more like a succulent than a club moss. I have some club moss around and it is amazing how it "appears" to come back to life. But this one looks like if it dries and browns, ...it's dead, unlike club mosses. Also I read these flower and seed, no spores. I think I have one about to flower, the flowers are small and come from under the leaf, I think I'm beginning to see some in the pic there I took, don't know yet for sure though.
 
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rasputin

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Galapoheros said:
I think the one I have here might be Crassula lycopodioides.
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I was wondering why the genus name in the first post didn't seem right but the plant kinda fit the bill for a club moss or spiny moss which are quite often misidentified as club mosses.
 
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Galapoheros

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Oh I see, yeah, lycopodiodes "is" the species name, I stated it as if a genus, looks like there are some varieties. Fever is back, hitting the sack.
 
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rasputin

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Hmm, the more I think about it and study it, the less I would want to try it out with my scorpions but I still have to say that it makes for an interesting plant. Not that it's bad or anything; technically, one could say that it's a beneficial plant - I'm just thinking more about the size and controlling it's spread as a shrub like plant.
 
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Galapoheros

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It could need some trimming if it survived in a terr. I think I'll bury a small clay pot to almost sub level, see if it lives and trim stuff that hit's the ground and roots. I could deal with it that way if it turns out to be a pain, the pot could be lifted out.
 
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rasputin

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Galapoheros said:
It could need some trimming if it survived in a terr. I think I'll bury a small clay pot to almost sub level, see if it lives and trim stuff that hit's the ground and roots. I could deal with it that way if it turns out to be a pain, the pot could be lifted out.
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That's also a good way of controlling it's size (bonsai trees come to mind). I think it would look awesome allowed to fan out a bit in something large like a 50g+ that houses something like H. arizonensis or, as I said earlier, C. vittatus (yeah, I'm thinking about American species).
 
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