304 



THE POPULAE EDUCATOR. 



and tortuous, the stem creeping, very strong, and with a deeply 

 indented and striped surface. It sends out at intervals branches 

 from one to three or four inches apart, in an erect position ; 

 these increase annually, the growth of each year being marked 

 by the altered length and direction of the leaves. These upright 

 branches sometimes divide again, and when fertile, which is not 

 always the case, the spike is usually on the sixth or seventh 

 joint of the branch. When mature, the branches become prone, 

 throw out roots, and send up erect branches as before. The 

 branches are clothed throughout with linear leaves very acutely 

 pointed, and with minute serratures at the edges. The fruit 

 spike is oblong, and seated on the 

 this species. 



being entirely 

 devoid of the 

 peduncle or 

 foot- stalk on 

 which the 

 spike of Ly- 

 eopodium cla- 

 vatum is ele- 

 vated. The 

 leaves, or 

 bracts, in the 

 spikes are 

 nearly round, 

 yet pointed at 

 the apex, and 

 in the axil of 

 each is placed 

 a large con- 

 spicuous ve- 

 niform cap- 

 sule, which, 

 when ripe, 

 opens trans- 

 versely, and 

 sheds nume- 

 rous minute 

 sulphur-co- 

 loured spores. 

 Lycopodium 

 alpinum, the 

 savin - leaved 

 club-moss, is 

 more com- 

 mon than the 

 last-named 

 species ; it 

 is a pretty 

 plant, its 

 foliage of 

 a brighter 

 green than 

 any other of 

 its congeners, 

 and in the 

 summer its 

 young shoots 

 have a blue 

 tint. After 

 the escape of 

 the seeds, the 



spikes bend into a semi-circular shape, and the bracts be- 

 come reflexed. Sir W. Hooker tells us that it is much used 

 in Iceland as a dye for woollen cloths. He says, " A vast 

 heap of Lycopodium alpinum, lying before the priest's house, 

 drew my attention, and on inquiring, I found that it was used 

 for the purpose of giving their wadmal a yellow dye, which is 

 done by merely boiling the cloth in water with a quantity of 

 the Lycopodium, and some leaves of Vaccinium uliginosum (the 

 tog- whortleberry). The colour imparted by this process, to 

 judge from some cloth shown me, was a pale and pleasant, 

 though not a brilliant, yellow." Wadmal is the woollen cloth 

 usually worn by the Icelanders. Sir W. Hooker tells us that 

 this species of club-moss is the badge of the Clan Macrae. 



The marsh club-moss (Lycopodium inundatum) is a rather 

 insignificant species which springs up on heaths and commons, 



especially where the turf has been pared ; and neither that nor 

 the prickly club-moss (Lycopodium selaginoides) must receive 

 much of our attention, though of the latter we must just 

 notice that it alone produces the double sort of fructification 

 which we have named in our account of the genus Lycopodium. 

 The upper capsules contain the minute pollen-like granules, the 

 lower larger grains almost equal in size to the seeds of some 

 flowering plants. 



The fir club-moss (Lycopodium Selago) is the last species on 

 our list. This ascends the summits of our highest mountains, 

 and is also found on the level of the sea. It has been con- 

 point of the branch in sidered as possessing many extraordinary medical properties, but 



seems an un- 



286. WOLF'S-CLAW OR STAG-HORN MOSS (LYCOPODIUM CLAVATUM). 



ANNOTINUM). 



safe remedy 

 t o me d d 1 e 

 with, as, if 

 too much is 

 used, it in- 

 duces convul- 

 sions. There 

 is a curious 

 species of ly- 

 copodium 

 mentioned by 

 Dr. Carpenter 

 as inhabiting 

 Peru, which 

 he says is lia- 

 ble to be en- 

 tirely dried 

 up when de- 

 prived of 

 water for a 

 time. "It 

 then folds in 

 its leaves and 

 contracts its 

 roots, so as to 

 form a ball, 

 which, appa- 

 rently quite 

 devoid of ani- 

 mation, is 

 driven about 

 hither and 

 thither by the 

 wind. As soon 

 as it reaches 

 a moist situa- 

 tion, it sends 

 down its roots 

 into the soil, 

 and unfolds 

 to the atmo- 

 sphere its 

 leaves, which, 

 from a dingy 

 brown, speedi- 

 ly change to 

 the bright 

 green of ac- 

 tive vegeta- 

 tion." 



The quill-wort (Isoetes lacustris) is the only other genus com- 

 prised under the order Lycopodiacece. This is a little plant con- 

 fined to mountain lakes, and there are but few other species in 

 the genus. It has a tuberous root about the size of a hazel-nut % 

 from which hang tubular white fibres ; the leaves are also 

 tubular, and rise from the point of the root without any foot- 

 stalk. They are of a bright green, and very brittle. The fruit 

 is very curious, consisting of capsules about the size of swan- 

 shot, embedded in the very substance of the base of each leaf. 

 Newman says the quill-wort " clothes the bottom of deep and 

 still waters with a perennial verdure." It is found in the little 

 lakes which abound among the Snowdon range and other moun- 

 tainous districts. 



The Lycopodi ~<v are considered to be, on the whole, the 

 most highly org.^.>ed of the cryptogamoua or flowerless plan's, 



287. INTERRUPTED CLUB-MOSS (LYCOPODIUM 



