Description

Selaginella tamariscina is a species of plant in the Selaginellaceae family, endemic to China, India, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Russia (Siberia), Taiwan, and northern Thailand. It is an evergreen perennial growing to 45cm in height. The earliest record of a resurrection plant in China is the description of S. tamariscina in the Compendium of Materia Medica, in which this plant is named long life, undead, and whorlleaf stonecrop herb because of its resurrection ability and pharmacological value. S. tamariscina was recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia because of its medicinal value in promoting blood circulation. Selaginella is the sole genus in the spike moss family (Selaginellaceae) of lycophytes that belong to the more ancient tracheophytes, which were established in the late Silurian or early Devonian, approximately 400 million years ago.