Part 214 (2/2)

ORDER 133. LYCOPODIaCEae. (CLUB-MOSS FAMILY.)

Low plants, usually of moss-like aspect, with elongated and often much branched stems covered with small lanceolate or subulate, rarely oblong or rounded, persistent entire leaves; the sporangia 1--3-celled, solitary in the axils of the leaves, or on their upper surface, when ripe opening into two or three valves, and shedding the numerous yellow spores, which are all of one kind.--The Order, as here defined, consists mainly of the large genus

1. LYCOPDIUM, L. CLUB-MOSS. (Pl. 21.)

Spore-cases coriaceous, flattened, usually kidney-shaped, 1-celled, 2-valved, mostly by a transverse line round the margin, discharging the subtile spores in the form of a copious sulphur-colored inflammable powder.--Perennials, with evergreen one-nerved leaves, imbricated or crowded in 4--16 ranks. (Name compounded of ?????, _a wolf_, and p???, _foot_, from no obvious resemblance.)

-- 1. _Spore-cases in the axils of the ordinary (dark green and s.h.i.+ning, rigid, lanceolate, about 8-ranked) leaves._

1. L. Selago, L. Stems erect and rigid, dichotomous, forming a level-topped cl.u.s.ter (3--6' high); _leaves uniform_, crowded, ascending, glossy, pointed, entire or denticulate; sporangia in the axils of unaltered leaves.--Mountain-tops, Maine to Lake Superior, and northward.--The leaves of this and the next species often bear little gemmae, with the lower bracts pointed, and the 2--3 uppermost broadly obovate and fleshy, as figured in 1768 by Dillenius. These gemmae fall to the ground and their axis grows into the stem of a new plant, as specimens collected in 1854 show very plainly. (For their true nature see Sachs' Lehrbuch, Engl. trans., p. 411.)

2. L. lucidulum, Michx. Stems a.s.surgent, less rigid, dichotomous (6--12'

long); leaves pointed, toothed, at first spreading, then deflexed, arranged, in alternate zones of shorter and longer leaves, the shorter leaves more frequently bearing sporangia in their axils; proliferous gemmae usually abundant.--Cold, damp woods; common northward. Aug.

-- 2. _Spore-cases only in the axils of the upper (bracteal) leaves, thus forming a spike._

[*] _Leaves of the creeping sterile and of the upright fertile stems or branches and those of the simple spike nearly alike, many-ranked._

3. L. inundatum, L. _Dwarf_; creeping sterile stems forking, flaccid; the fertile solitary (1--4' high), bearing a short thick spike; _leaves lanceolate or lance-awl-shaped, acute_, soft, spreading, _mostly entire_, those of the prostrate stems curving upward.--Var. BIGELVII, Tuckerm., has fertile stems 5--7' high, its leaves more awl-shaped and pointed, spa.r.s.er and more upright, often somewhat teeth-bearing.--Sandy bogs, northward, not common; the var., eastern New Eng. to N. J., and southward. Aug. (Eu.)

4. L. alopecurodes, L. _Stems stout_, very densely leafy throughout; the sterile branches recurved-proc.u.mbent and creeping; the fertile of the same thickness, 6--20' high; _leaves narrowly linear-awl-shaped, spinulose-pointed, spreading, conspicuously bristle-toothed below the middle; those of the cylindrical spike with long setaceous tips_.--Pine-barren swamps, N. J. to Va., and southward. Aug., Sept.--Stems, including the dense leaves, ' thick; the comose spike, with its longer spreading leaves, --1' thick.

[*][*] _Leaves (bracts) of the catkin-like spike scale-like, imbricated, yellowish, ovate or heart-shaped, very different from those of the sterile stems and branches._

[+] _Spikes sessile (i.e. branches equally leafy to the top), single._

5. L. annotinum, L. Much branched; _stems prostrate and creeping_ (1--4 long); _the ascending branches similar_ (5--8' high), sparingly forked, the sterile ones making yearly growths from the summit; _leaves equal, spreading_, in about 5 ranks, rigid, lanceolate, pointed, minutely serrulate (pale green); spike solitary, oblong-cylindrical, thick.--Var.

PuNGENS, Spring, is a reduced sub-alpine or mountain form, with shorter and more rigid pointed erectish leaves.--Woods; common northward; the var. on the White Mountains, with intermediate forms around the base.

July. (Eu.)

6. L. obscurum, L. Rootstock cord-like, subterranean, bearing scattered, erect, tree-like stems dividing at the summit into several densely dichotomous spreading branches; leaves linear-lanceolate, decurrent, entire, acute, 6-ranked, those of the two upper and two lower ranks smaller and appressed, the lateral ones incurved spreading; spikes 1--10, erect, mostly sessile; bracts scarious-margined, broadly ovate, abruptly apiculate.--Var. DENDROiDEUM (L. deudroideum, _Michx._) has all the leaves alike and incurved spreading.--Moist woods. Aug.--Remarkable for its tree-like appearance.

L. ALPNUM, L., or its var. SABINaeFLIUM, occurs from Labrador to Was.h.i.+ngton Territory, and is to be expected in northern Maine and Minn.

It has slender branches with rigid nearly appressed leaves.

[+][+] _Spikes peduncled, i.e. the leaves minute on the fertile branches._

[++] _Leaves h.o.m.ogeneous and equal, many-ranked; stems terete._

7. L. clavatum, L. (COMMON CLUB-MOSS.) Stems creeping extensively, with similar ascending short and very leafy branches; the fertile terminated by a slender peduncle (4--6' long), bearing about 2--3 (rarely 1 or 4) linear-cylindrical spikes; leaves linear-awl-shaped, incurved spreading (light green), tipped, as also the bracts, with a fine bristle.--Dry woods; common, especially northward. July. (Eu.)

[++][++] _Leaves of two forms, few-ranked; stems or branches flattened._

8. L. Carolinianum, L. (Pl. 21.) Sterile stems and their few short branches _entirely creeping_ (leafless and rooting on the under side), thickly clothed with broadly lanceolate acute and somewhat oblique 1-nerved _lateral leaves widely spreading in 2 ranks_, and a shorter intermediate row appressed on the upper side; also sending up a slender simple peduncle (2--4' high, clothed merely with small bract-like and appressed awl-shaped leaves), _bearing a single cylindrical spike_.--Wet pine-barrens, N. J. to Va., and southward.

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