CRYPTOGAMIA— FILICES. Equisetum. 335 



L. alpinum. Linn. Sp. PL 1567. Fl. Lapp. ed. 2. 338. t. 1 1 ./. G. 

 mild. V. 5. 20. Fl. Br. 1 112. Engl. Bot. v. 4. t. 234. HooA:. 

 Scoi. p. 2. 159. F/. Drt7i. t. 79. DirAx Dr. P/. 46. Ehrh. 

 Crypt. 1 1 . 



L. n. 1719. Hall. Hist. V. 3. 2\. 



L. Sabinse facie. Raii Sijn. 108. Dill. Muse. 445. ^ 58./. 2. 



On the highest mountains of Scotland, Wales, and the north of 

 England, in stony and rather moist situations, plentifully. 



Perennial. August. 



Stems round, strong, smooth, somewhat leafy, prostrate, creep- 

 ing, by means ot scattered fibrous radicles, to a considerable 

 extent, and bearing many tufts of upright, forked, densely leafy, 

 level-topped, partly flowering, branches, from two to four inches 

 high. Leaves of a deep glaucous green, rather loosely imbri- 

 cated in four rows, small, acute, keeled, uniform, entire, point- 

 less. Spikes numerous, solitary, erect, cylindrical, from half an 

 inch to an inch long, of a pale yellowish green. Scales ovate, 

 pointed, not quite entire, flat, membranous. Caps, nearly orbi- 

 cular, yellowish, uniform. 

 A very handsome evergreen, with much of the aspect of a Juniper 

 or Savin. It is bitter, with something of an aromatic flavour, 

 and an emetic quality ; but though so abundant in Scotland 

 and the Hebrides, Lightfoot does not mention its being applied 

 to any use. 

 Dillenius, though he well knew this species, and has correctly de- 

 lineated the e.KOtic L. complanatum, certainly misapplied syno- 

 nyms of Tragus, Gerarde, Dalechamp and the two Bauhins, to 

 L. alpinum, which belong to the complanatum. The taller, less 

 leafv, flowering branches, well represented in the old wooden 

 figures of the above authors, are decidedly characteristic of 

 L. complanatum, to say nothing of the compressed foliage. 



478. EQUISETUM. Horsetail. 



Linn. Gen. iK>9. Juss.\7. Fl. Br. \\02. Tourn.t.307. Lam.t.SG2. 

 Hedw. T/ieor. 33. t. 1,2. 



Nat. Ord. Conifer ce P Linn. 51. Filicrs dubi(C. Jiiss. 5. 

 Quite undetermined, thou^rh tliis «rcnus is certainly akin 

 to Fi/iccs, antl even to ralnur, or at least Cijcadccc. See 

 Ih. Prodr. 34G. 



Catkin ovate-oblong, tessellated, close, of many l^eltate, 

 stalked scales, on a simple common stalk, each scale un- 

 ^rular in front, bearing at the back from 4 to 7 oblong 

 membranous tr//.s-, parallel to each other, and to iW par- 

 tial stalk of the scale, which they surrounil, each finally 

 bursting' len«rth\vise into 2 eciual valves. Cone rather 



