Selaginella moellendorffii is a
lycophyte that is an important
model organism, especially in
comparative genomics.
S. moellendorffii is a member of an ancient
vascular plant lineage that first appeared in the
fossil record some 400 million years ago. They would later form a dominant part of the world's flora during the
Carboniferous period. These
lycopsids lack true leaves (having
microphylls instead) and roots and thus represent an important node on the plant evolutionary tree. As the oldest extant division of the vascular plants, they are essential to understanding the evolution of plants as a whole.