Selaginellales

Selaginellales is an ancient order of lycophytes, representing one of the earliest diverging lineages of vascular plants. Members of this group, particularly Selaginella species, are known for producing a unique array of bioactive compounds such as biflavonoids, lignans, and phenolic acids, which are rare or absent in higher plants. In biomedical research, Selaginellales is highly significant due to its antioxidant, neuroprotective, and anticancer potential, especially compounds like amentoflavone that exhibit multi-target pharmacological activity. As a phylogenetically ancient lineage, Selaginellales provides valuable insight into the early evolution of plant secondary metabolism, offering structurally distinct chemical scaffolds for drug discovery. Its metabolic uniqueness makes it an important but underexplored reservoir for natural product-based therapeutic development.