126 WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND FERNS. 



might be a young form we kept it alive, but for two years there 

 was no sign of development. At the end of June, 1908, the 

 decumbent branches dwindled away, and we thought it had 

 perished ; but from the base there were thrown up several 

 sturdy upright stems with leaves of the ordinary kind and colour. 

 Plate 140 is reproduced from the photograph we took before 

 removing it from its wet miniature cave. 



In addition to the reproduction by spores, several of the Club- 

 mosses multiply vegetatively, and in our first photograph of the 

 Fir Club-moss may be seen several small pale clusters in the 

 axils of upper leaves. They are buds that will soon fall off, 

 and on reaching the ground will send out roots and grow into 

 separate plants. 



The miniature Flag-like plants shown to the left of the photo- 

 graph are the Bog Asphodel (Narthetium ossifragum\ which 

 with the Butterwort (Pinguicula -vulgaris) is a frequent ac- 

 companiment of this Club-moss on the Snowdon mountains, 

 where the photograph was taken. 



It is a plant of the elevated moor and heath, the hill-top and 

 mountain side from Shetland to Sussex and Cornwall. It 

 ascends to 4000 feet in Aberdeenshire. It occurs also in 

 various parts of Ireland. 



In addition to Fir Club-moss which is a book improvement 

 on Fir-moss, one of its folk-names we have also Tree-moss, 

 Fox-feet, and in Co. Kerry, the Virgin Mary's Furze. Selago 

 is the old Roman name for a plant believed to be the modern 

 Wild Hyssop, to which it evidently was thought to bear 

 likeness. 



Though the first of the remaining species is popularly- 

 speaking a Club-moss, they form the British representation of 

 the order Selaginellaceas, and their distinctness from Lycopodium 

 will be made evident by comparison of the details in Plates 130 

 and 143. 



