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CCLXV. LYCOPODIACE^E The Club-Moss Tribe. 



Lycopodineje, Swartz Synopsis Filicum (1806) ; R. Brown Prodr. 164. (1810) ; Agardh Aph. 

 112. (1822); Grcvillc Flor. Edin. xii. (1824).— Lycopodiaceje, Uec.Fl.Fr. 2.571. (1815); 

 Ad. Brongn. in Diet. Class. 9. 561. (1826.) 



Diagnosis. Flowerlcss plants, with the sporules enclosed in axillary thecse, 

 vernation circinate. 

 Anomalies. 



Essential Character. — Often moss-like plants, with creeping' stems and imbricated leaves, 

 the axis abounding in annular ducts ; or stemless plants, with erect subulate leaves, and a solid 

 cormus. Organs of reproduction axillary sessile theca?, either bursting- by distinct valves, or 

 mdehiscent, and containing either minute powdery matter, or sporules, marked at the apex 

 with three minute radiating elevated ridges upon their proper integument. 



Affinities. Intermediate as it were between Ferns and Coniferse on the 

 one hand, and Ferns and Mosses on the other ; related to the first of those 

 tribes in the want of stamens and pistils, and in the abundance of annular ducts 

 contained in their axis ; to the second in the aspect of the stems of some of the 

 larger kinds ; and to the last in their whole appearance, Lycopodiaceee are dis- 

 tinctly characterized by their organs of reproduction. These are generally 

 considered to be of two kinds, both of which are axillary and sessile, and have 

 from 1 to 3 regularly dehiscing valves, the one containing a powdery sub- 

 stance, the other bodies much larger in size, which have been seen to germi- 

 nate. In conformity with the theory, that all plants have stamens and pistils, 

 the advocates of that doctrine have found anthers in the former, and pistilla in 

 the latter ; but, as in other similar cases, this opinion is entirely conjectural, and 

 founded upon no direct evidence : all that we really know is, that the larger 

 bodies do germinate, and, if we are to credit Willdenow, the powdery particles 

 grow also. He says he has seen them. I think it is hardly to be doubted that 

 the latter are the abortive state of the former. According to Salisbury, in the 

 Linnozan Transactions, vol. 12. tab. 19. Lycopodium denticulatum emits two 

 cotyledons upon germinating ; but, supposing this observation, which requires 

 confirmation, to be exact, it is much more probable that the two little scales so 

 emitted are primordial leaves than analogous to cotyledons. The genus Isoetes 

 is by some referred to MarsileaceK, to which it forms a transition. I follow 

 Decandolle and Brongniart in referring it here. M. Delile has published an 

 account of the germination of Isoetes setacea, from which it appears that its 

 sporules sprout upwards and downwards, forming an intermediate solid body, 

 which ultimately becomes the stem, or cormus ; but it is not stated whether the 

 points from which the ascending and descending axes take their rise are uni- 

 form ; as no analogy in structure is discoverable between these sporules and 

 seeds, it is probable that they are not. M. Delile points out the great affinity 

 that exists between Isoetes and Lycopodium, particularly in the relative posi- 

 tion of the two kinds of reproductive matter. In Lycopodium, he says the pul- 

 verulent thecae occupy the upper ends of the shoots, and the granular thecal 

 the lower parts ; while, in Isoetes, the former are found in the centre, and the 

 latter at the circumference. If this comparison is good, it will afford some evi- 

 dence of the identity of nature of these theca^, and that the pulverulent ones are 

 at least not anthers, as has been supposed ; for in Isoetes the pulverulent inner 

 thecee have the same organization, even to the presence of what has been called 

 theh* stigma, as the outer granular ones ; so that, if Isoetes has stamens and. 

 pistils, it will offer the singular fact of its anther having a stigma. 



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