TAB. 



I 



LYCOPODIUM GNIDIOIDES 



i 



LycoPODiNEiE. Swartz., Br., Kaulf Stachyopterides. Willd 



Gen. Char. LYCOPODIUM, Linn. Capsulai uniloculares, axillares, sessiles ; alw bivalves, 



farina repletae ; ali<e 2— 3-valves, corpusculis 1—6, globosis. Br. 



Lycopodium gnidioides; caule dichotome ramoso foliis subsexfariam imbricatis lineari-oblongis 



canaliculatis acutis, nervo ad apicem excurrente, capsulis in axillis foliorum acutiorum termi- 

 nalium. 



Lycopodium gnidioides. Linn. Suppl. p. 148. Swartz. Syn. Fil. p. 174. Willd. Sp. Pl. 



. v.b.p. 47. Spreng. Syst. Veg. v. 4. p. 20. Smith in Rees Cycl. 

 Lycopodium funiculosum. Lam. Encycl. v.S.p. 649. 

 " Lycopodium flagelliforme. Schradr (fide Spreng.) 



- 



Lycopodium pinifolium. Kaulf. Enum. Fil. p.7. 



Hab. In Insula Mauritii. Commerson ? In Capite Bonse Spei. (Willd) Villet. 



Radix densissime csespitosa, fibrosa, fibris ramosis valde intricatis. 



Caulis spithamaBus, fere ad pedalem, flexuosus, repetitim dichotomus, ubique foliosus. 



Folia subsexfariam disposita, erecta, imbricata, semiunciam longa, vix lineam lata, lineari-oblonga, nitida, canali- 



culata integerrima acutiuscula, nervo obscuro intus elevato, dorso depresso, ad apicem attingente instructa: 



suprema (capsulifera) breviora, latiora, acutiora, spicam referentia. 

 Capsula in axillis foliorum supremorum sessiles, reniformes; bivalves, flavae, granulis sphaericis repletse. Ha3 



granulco vel sporula; nunc videntur ternatim compositae. 

 Fig. 1. Folium. f. 2. Folium cum capsula. f. 3. Sporulas: — magn. auct. 





is ditficult to say whether this Lycopodium should be arranged among those species which 

 have a spicate fructification, or those whose capsules are simply placed in the axils of the leaves. 

 The uppermost leaves, which mostly contain the capsules, are shorter and broader than the rest, 

 and collectively form a terminal sessile spike ; but by no means so distinct as in many species of the 

 genus. Some authors have considered the fructification to be spicate, and others axillary ; and 

 hence botanists have differed about the species, which in reality is, in other respects, a very distinctly 

 marked one, and very aptly named, from its resemblance to some individuals of the genus Gnidia or 



to Daphne gnidioides. 



Our specimens were communicated from the Cape of Good Hope by M. Villet, who has sent us 

 many excellent plants from that rich botanical country. 



