374 CLUB-MOSS FAMILY. 



* Stems trailing, sending out rootlets nearly up to the end. 

 *- Branchlets only 1" broad: leaves wide apart in each row. 



S. delicatissima. Stems 4' - 8' long, irregularly forked and branched ; 

 branches rather distant; leaves oblong-roundish, obtuse, with a few slender 

 cilia towards the base ; intermediate ones ovate, pointed. 



*- *- Branchlets 2" - 3" broad, their leaves closely placed in each row. 



S. Kraussiana. (LYCOFODIUM DENTICUL\TUM of the florists.) Stems 

 very long, articulated below each branch ; branches distant, bearing a few short 

 forked branchlcts ; leaves bright green, the larger ones oblong-ovate, acute, 

 rounded on the upper side, nearly straight on the lower, minutely denticulate ; 

 smaller ones with longer often reflexed points. 



S. uncinata. (Lvc. CESIUM of ilorists.) Stems very long, not articu- 

 lated, freely branched ; branches 2 - 3-pinnatc with short crowded branchlcts ; 

 leaves when living Avith a steel-blue iridescence, fading to green when dried, very 

 closely placed, larger ones oblong, equal-sided, obtuse, entire ; smaller ones 

 ovate with slender incurved points. 



# # Steins ascending, only the lower part bearing long rootlets. 



S. Martonsii. (Lye. STOLOxfFERUM of florists.) Stems 6' -10' long, 



much branched from the base ; branches bipinnate, with copious branchlets 



2'' 3" or even 4" wide ; larger leaves crowded, obliquely ovate, the upper side 



broadest, obtuse, entire ; smaller ones ovate with a slender often recurved point. 



* * * Stems erect, or nearly so, rooting only at the very base. 



S. er^thropus. Stalk 2' - 6' high, bright red, having a few closely ap- 

 pressed red leaves, and bearing at the top a broad frond-like stem pinnately or 

 pedately divided into a few 2-3 times pinnate branches, with very numerous 

 extremely crowded branchlets 1" - 1^" wide; leaves closely imbricated, obliquely 

 ovate-oblong, curved upward, rather obtuse, ciliate ; smaller ones ovate, with 

 long straight points. 



S. Braiinii. (Lvc. WiLLDEN6vn of florists.) Stalk straw-color or pale 

 red, shorter than in the last, finely pubescent, as are the branches ; frond-liko 

 stems long-ovate, 4 times pinnate, resembling an elegant fern ; branchlets not 

 crowded, about 1" wide; leaves scarcely imbricated, ovate, obtuse, entire; 

 smaller ones with straight points. 



* * * * Stems in a dense nest-like tuft, not rooting : branches often curling up 



when dry. 



S. CUSpidata. (Lrc. GIRCIX\LK of florists.) Frond-like stems 6' -8' 

 long, green above, paler beneath, oblong or lyre-shaped, loosely 3-pinnate ; 

 branchlets 1" wide ; leaves obliquely triangular-ovate, with long often incurved 

 bristle-points, having a narrow whitish margin, sparingly ciliated and minutely 

 denticulate ; smaller ones obliquely ovate, with long slender points. 



S. lepidoph^lla, from Lower California, &c., is the "Bird's-Nest Moss," 

 or " Resurrec, ion-Plant." It is a nest-like ball when dry, but when moist it un- 

 folds and displays the densely 2 -3-pinnate ek-gant fern-like branches radiating 

 from a coiled-up central stem ; the leaves white-margined, closely imbricated, 

 round-ovate, obtuse. Nearly 30 species are cultivated in Great Britain, besides 

 those here described. 



3. ISOETES, QUILL WORT. (Name from the Greek words for equal and 

 year, meaning that the plant is the same at all seasons.) The species demand 

 too nice discriminarion for the beginner, and must be studied by aid of the 

 Manual. 



I. laciistris, rather rare only N., and the far commoner* 

 I. echinospora, are the principal northern species, living under water. 

 I. riparia and I. Engelmanni, with leaves 4' - 20' long, live partly 



out of water, at least for a part of the summer. 



I. melan6poda, only W., lives in shallow ponds or poola which dry up in 



