HAWAII NATURE NOTES
THE PUBLICATION OF THE
NATURALIST DIVISION, HAWAII NATIONAL PARK
AND THE HAWAII NATURAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION

(58-61) WAWAEIOLE OR CLUBMOSS

Clubmosses are sometimes called "living fossils." Many deposits of the continental United States are formed from giant relatives of these plants. The name "clubmoss" is derived from the spore-bearing bodies, which are club-shaped. Most abundant is the nodding clubmoss but at least three other species may be found in the Kilauea and Haleakala sections. Degener (2) reports that the Hawaiians used the wawaeiole ("rat's foot") as a relief for rheumatism, the sufferer bathing in water in which the plants had been boiled for about three hours.

WAWAEIOLE or Clubmoss. D&M, (58-61).