EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Twining Wolf Foot

Climbing Clubmoss (Lycopodium volubile), Family Lycopodiaceae
North Island, New Zealand

Explanation:  This plant has four names spanning four languages!  

The English common name is climbing clubmoss.

The scientific name is Lycopodium volubile.

Which brings us to the third name, which is the meaning of the scientific name.  Lycopodium is actually derived from the Greek lukos and podion, meaning "wolf" and "foot."  And volubile is derived from the Latin volvere, meaning twining, twisting.  Thus ... "twining wolf foot."

And finally, the local Maori name for the plant is waewaekoukou.  Waewae means foot, and koukou means ... the cry of an owl, or the crest of a bird's head ... but, together, waewaekoukou is the name given to this clubmoss.  

So, here we have four names: climbing clubmoss, Lycopodium volubile, twining wolf foot, and waewaekoukou ... four languages: English, Greek, Latin, and Maori.

And there are three additional scientific names listed as synonyms.  

Whew!

A look-alike species is Lycopodium scariosum, but that species has
"orange brown >5cm long cones on erect, sparsely leaved, unbranched stalks,"
whereas my photos shows pendant cones on branched stalks,
as seen here above.

Lycopodium volubile -- this species -- has branches that terminate in
immature cones.  The mature cones hang loosely in large clusters,
and are up to 8 cm long.