PSILOTACEAE. 



429 



1. Psilotum nudum (L.) Griseb. 

 PsiLOTUM. (Fig. 469.) Stems erect, 

 8'-12' tall, or, when growing in caves, 

 often pendent, 3-angled at the base, co- 

 piously forked above, the ultimate divi- 

 sions with 3 wing-like angles; leaves re- 

 mote, awl-like, less than 1" long; 

 sporanges in interrupted spikes. [Lyco- 

 podium nudum L. ; P. triquetrum Sw.] 



At bases of palmettos in Paget Marsh, 

 and in caves and in bases of trees between 

 Harrington Sound and Castle Harbor. Re- 

 corded by Verrill as having grown on Ire- 

 land Island. Verrill uses for this plant 

 the name " Sea-side Club Moss " which is 

 misleading, as it does not grow in prox- 

 imity to the sea, and should be excluded 

 from his list of sea-side plants. Native. 

 Southeastern United States, West Indies 

 and tropical continental America. 



Family 2. SELAGINELLACEAE Uiiderw. 



Selaginella Family. 



Terrestrial, moss-like plants with branching stems and scale-like leaves. 

 Sporanges 1-celled, solitary in the axils of leaves which are so arranged as 

 to form more or less quadrangular spikes, some containing 4 macrospores 

 (macrosporanges), others containing numerous microspores (microspo- 

 ranges). The family consists of the following genus: 



1. SELAGINELLA Beauv. 



Characters of family. [Name diminutive of Selago, ancient name of a 

 Lycopodium.] About 600 species, widely distributed, most abundant in trop- 

 ical regions. 



Selaginella viticulosa Klotzeh, Selaginella, South American, a trailing 

 moss-like plant, with minute bright green leaves spreading in 2 planes, the two 

 kinds of sporanges borne in narrow spikes, one containing 4 large spores, the 

 other containing many very minute spores, was observed in 1912 covering a 

 shaded wall at Mt. Langton, apparently well established, escaped from a 

 greenhouse nearby, suggesting that this beautiful plant might readily be grown 

 in other similar situations. It is occasionally planted on rock-work. 



Other sj^ecies of Selaginella have been grown at times as house plants and 

 under glass. 



A species of Equisetum was recorded by Lefroy, and doubtfully referred 

 to E. hogotense by Verrill, but no trace of any plant of this genus has been 

 found by recent collectors. (See p. 50.) 



