Phlegmariurus filiformis (Sw.) W. H. Wagner

verticillatum: in whorls, referring to the whorled arrangement of the leaves on the stem.

Stems pendulous, repeatedly dichotomously branched. Foliage leaves needle-like, 5-8 × 0.2-0.5 mm, firmly herbaceous, overlapping, mid- to dark green; grading into the almost indistinguishable fertile portion. Sporophylls similar to the sterile leaves, sporangia single, in the axils of the sporophylls along the apical area of the stem.

Bioko, Cameroon, DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sao Tomé, S Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Also Madagascar, Comoro and Mascarene Islands and tropical America.