Lycopodium selago Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 1102. 1753; L. abietiforme S. F. Gray; L. densum Lamarck, nom. illeg. superfl.; Mirmau selago (Linnaeus) H. P. Fuchs; Plananthus selago (Linnaeus) P. Beauvois; Urostachys selago (Linnaeus) Herter.

Plants terrestrial. Stem erect or ascending, 16-25 cm, 2-3 mm in diam. at middle, together with leaves 11-16 mm wide, 3 or 4 times dichotomously branched, upper portion often with bulbils. Leaves dense, angled upward or attached at right angles with stem, lustrous, lanceolate, nearly as wide at base as middle, straight, 7-10 × 1.4-1.8 mm, leathery to papery, both surfaces glabrous, midrib indistinct abaxially, slightly distinct adaxially, base truncate, decurrent, sessile, margin straight and not crispate, entire, apex acute. Sporophylls homomorphic with trophophylls; sporangia not visible or visible on both sides of sporophylls, yellowish, reniform.

The leaf margins of Huperzia selago are involute, and its leaf apex is acuminate.

Alpine meadows, rock crevices, forests, stream banks; 1900-2300 m. Jilin, Xinjiang [America, Asia, Europe, Pacific islands].