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Glite Dictionary
Selaginellaceae

Selaginellaceae

1 9.9
A family of small plants like moss that grow mainly in warm, wet places
  • noun
  • /ˌsɛləˈdʒɪnəˌleɪʃiː/
  • Specialized
: Selaginellaceae
  • Gardening enthusiasts often grow plants from the Selaginellaceae family for their distinctive moss-like appearance.

Examples

  • Scientists studied the Selaginellaceae to understand their unique adaptations to terrestrial habitats.

  • The Isotaceae are a small, cosmopolitan family of aquatic, heterosporous pteridophytes that are related to the extant Selaginellaceae and Lycopodiaceae families.

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  • The Selaginellaceae family includes various varieties of lesser club mosses found mainly in tropical regions.

Surface Forms

Selaginellaceae singular
Selaginellaceae plural

Morphology

Selaginellaceae = Selaginella (opaque) = Selaginella + aceae

The suffix '-aceae' is a specialized taxonomic family ending; its meaning ('a plant family') is not obvious to general learners from the genus name alone.

Etymology

Selaginellaceae comes from the plant name Selaginella and the ending -aceae, which means 'family' in plant names. You see the same -aceae in Rosaceae, the 'rose' family. So Selaginellaceae literally means 'the Selaginella family', which is why it is the name for this group of small, moss-like plants.