Lycopodium delicatulum Desvaux ex Poiret in Lamarck, Encycl., Suppl. 3: 554. 1814; Lycopodioides delicatula (Desvaux ex Poiret) H. S. Kung; Lycopodium flaccidum Bory; L. pouzolzianum Gaudichaud; Selaginella chinensis (Loddiges) Kunze; S. flaccida (Bory) Spring; S. pouzolziana (Gaudichaud) Spring.

Plants terrestrial, evergreen, erect, suberect, or ascending from decumbent base, 35-50 cm, with stolons at base. Rhizophores restricted to lower part of stem or up to middle of main stem. Main stems branched from lower part or middle upward, pinnately branched, stramineous, 1.8-3 mm in diam. in lower part, oval, subquadrangular, or angulate in cross section, sulcate, glabrous, apex of main stem not blackish or blackish, base of some upper lateral branches also blackish; primary leafy branches 5-8 pairs, once pinnately branched or twice pinnately branched at base, secondary branches not forked or basal branch once or twice forked, branchlets dense and regular, leafy portion of main stem including leaves 5-6 mm wide at middle, ultimate branches 4-5 mm wide including leaves. Axillary leaves on main stems obviously larger than those on branches, oblong-ovate, 2.4-3.6 × 1.6-2.4 mm; axillary leaves on branches narrowly elliptic, 2.2-2.6 × 0.8-1 mm, base exauriculate, margin entire. Dorsal leaves on branches contiguous, oblique, narrowly elliptic or falcate, 1.8-2.4 × 0.8-1.2 mm, not carinate, base oblique, margin entire, apex acuminate, acute, mucronate, or cuspidate. Ventral leaves on branches contiguous to imbricate, slightly ascending, oblong-ovate or oblong, 3-4 × 1.2-1.6 mm, apex acute or apiculate, minutely dentate; basiscopic base rounded, margin entire; acroscopic base not enlarged, not overlapping stem and branches, margin entire. Strobili solitary, terminal, compact, tetragonal, 5-10(-20) × 1.4-2.8 mm; sporophylls uniform, white-margined, broadly ovate, margin entire, apex acuminate; megasporophylls in middle on lower side of strobilus; microsporangia transversely elliptic, rather thin, cells regular; microspores orange-red or pale yellow, spinose, 20-30 μm, megaspores whitish or brown, verrucate to gemmate, 350-375 μm.

Terrestrial in forests, on shaded rocks; 100-1000 m. Anhui, Chongqing, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam].