328 



REPRODUCTION OF LYCOPODIUM 



that the ancient alHes of these plants were conspicuous features 

 of an earHer vegetation, with palm-like trunks lOO feet in height 

 and three feet in diameter, and bearing a crown of long narrow 

 leaves that attained a length of three feet. They reached their 

 greatest abundance in the coal age and thence gradually declined, 

 being crowded out by the more specialized seed plants. There 

 are two important families of the Lycopodiales : i , Lycopodiaceae ; 

 2, Selaginellaceae. 



ii6. Family i. Lycopodiaceae. — With but one exception the 

 members of this family belong to the genus Lycopodium, com- 

 monly known as the club moss, ground or running pine, ground 

 fir or hemlock (Fig. 236). These plants are very well repre- 



FiG. 238 



Fig. 239 



Fig. 238. Phylloglossum Drummondi. — After Pritzel. 



Fig. 239. Strobilus and sporophylls of Lycopodium: 2, strobilus. 3, a 

 leaf or sporophyll from the strobilus enlarged and showing attached spo- 

 rangium. 4, a spore greatly magnified. 



sented in our open woods, where they often form conspicuous 

 colonies owing to the extensive branching and prolonged growth 

 of the stems which creep over or through the ground, sending 



