The Quillwort 



semblance to the true mosses. It flourishes best on 

 marshy grounds, and is to be found in the drainage 

 cuttings on the hills and moorlands and on the marshy 

 stretches of our shores. 



Selaginella is formed from Selago, to which reference 

 has already been made when describing the Fir Club- 

 moss, and means, literally, "little Selago " that is, 

 "little clubmoss." The specific name, spinosa, refers 

 to the small teeth on the margins of the tiny leaves. 



Two other plants allied to ferns and clubmosses 

 may be mentioned here namely, the Quillwort and the 

 Pill wort, or Pepper wort, both of which are aquatic 

 plants, the former growing at the bottom and the latter 

 at the edges of lakes and ponds. 



The Quillwort, Isoetes lacustris, is a plant only to be 

 found in mountain lakes and tarns. It grows from a 

 tuberous rootstock guarded by the bases of former 

 leaves. The brittle, dark green, and quill-like leaves, 

 which are about 3 inches in length and number from ten 

 to twenty, spring in tufted fashion from the rootstock. 

 They are roughly quadrangular in shape, and taper 

 away to a sharp point. Concealed within the sheathing 

 leaf-bases, and attached to the leaves themselves, are the 

 two sets of spore capsules, containing large and small 

 spores respectively. Those containing the large spores 

 are attached to the leaves of the outer rows, while those 

 containing the small spores are to be found within the 

 inner circles of leaves. The possession of large and 

 small spores, with their subsequent development into 



