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Diphasium scariosum, synonym Lycopodium scariosum, commonly known as spreading clubmoss or creeping club moss, is a species in the club moss family Lycopodiaceae. The genus Diphasium is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), but not in other classifications which submerge the genus in Lycopodium.

Description
Diphasium scariosum has main stems that lie flat along the ground which spread to more than a meter long. The branchlets ascend to 0.5 m tall, have two different surfaces and are very branched. The leaves are dimorphic so have two different forms and are yellowish green. The first form is the upper leaves of the plant, which are in two alternating rows, and have been flattened into one plane. The upper leaves are 3–5mm long, 1–1.5mm wide and oval. The second form consists of the lower leaves which are in two rows but have not been flattened into one plane. These leaves are scale-like, much smaller than the upper leaves, only being up to 0.2 mm long and have translucent membranous dilated tips. D. scariosum has distinctive colouring with big fluorescent spots throughout. This is unusual for a club moss as not many club moss species have the 5-O-glucosides of flavones which cause the bright fluorescent spots which appear on D. scariosum. The strobili of D. scariosum are solitary erect strobili which grow between one and three centimeters long. The sporophylls overlap each other, are oval, straw-like, and have membranous tips. Genera of the Lycopodioideae subfamily, which includes D. scariosum, differs from the Lycopodielloideae sensu genera by the presence of pedunculate strobili with modified sporophylls in them.

Natural global range
Diphasium scariosum occurs naturally in the Philippines, New Guinea, Borneo, Australia, New Zealand and the Subanatarctic islands around New Zealand. The subfamily Lycopodioideae, of which D. scariosum is a part, occurs on all continents except Antarctica and a higher diversity of this subfamily appears in the Northern hemisphere than the Southern hemisphere.

New Zealand range
Diphasium scariosum is found throughout the North Island but is less common in Northland. It is also found throughout the South Island.

Habitat
Diphasium scariosum is found in coastal to subalpine environments through several different habitats such as mossy roadside banks, shrubland and peaty ground. The soil type that D. scariosum occurs on the most is well-drained clay or peaty soils.

Life cycle/Phenology
Diphasium scariosum is a pteridophyte which means that it produces spores which disperse through wind or water before landing on soil and germinating there. When the spores are released from the sporophyll and the strobili, they can take seven or more years to turn into a gametophyte which can then survive for 10 or more years. The lifecycle of a Lycopodium species can take up to 20 years to complete from spore to gametophyte to producing spores. D. scariosum reproduces both sexually and asexually so in favourable conditions it will reproduce asexually to produce many spores to try and take advantage of the favourable conditions, whereas in unfavourable conditions it will reproduce sexually to produce hardier spores which can survive for longer. When D. scariosum is not producing spores, it grows laterally along the ground looking for more resources for itself, and if it does not find them it will stop growing there and grow in another direction.

Diet and foraging
Diphasium scariosum occurs on peaty soils. Peaty soils are classified as a soil which has a high dead organic matter concentration which makes the soil very nutrient-rich. The water content of peaty soils varies from between 200% and 2,200%; however, D. scariosum rarely survives in restiad bogs so it does not like very high concentrations of water in the soil. This means that D. scariosum requires soils with high nutrient contents from dead organic matter as well as a high water content, but not too high.

Predators, Parasites, and Diseases
Clubmosses are known to be eaten by slugs and snails which eat the leaves of the plant, although this has not yet been documented for D. scariosum. Clubmosses can also be parasitized by fungi in shaded, humid conditions which leads to loss of water in the cells, decolourization, and fungal fruiting body emergence. D. scariosum was found to be infected with mycorrhizal fungi, which likely benefits the plant.