Huperzia selago is distinguished from H. appalachiana by the presence of weak annual constrictions of the branches and the gemmiferous branchlets restricted to a single whorl ("pseudowhorl") near the end of each years growth. In Wisconsin it is found only near Lake Superior in Bayfield County and a few sites in adjacent Ashland and Douglas County. Elsewhere in North America it is found from New England and Labrador west to the Yukon and south to northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. Although it is often associated with wet soils rather than rocks throughout much of its range, in Wisconsin some sites are associated with (mostly wet) rocks.