At this point it enter the young sporophytic stage again. A rhizome and roots will eventually form and strobili will once again become evident. Thus the alternation of generation continues. Asexual reproduction is done through the use of gemmae, and bulbils. Gemmae are cells that will reproduce another entire plant simply by cell reproduction on fertile substrate.
Bulbils are an enlarged base with several pairs of leaves that are arranged aroun on a short axis.
This breaks off and can become a new sporophyte. These plants require forested environments with a relatively high moisture content. They are mostly shade tolerant, so the effects of deforestation in the Appalachia and other forested regions could have detrimental affects on this unique little plant that once towered 100 feet tall and were major forest cover types since the time of the dinosaur.