70 



LYCOPODIACE^E. 



[Acumens. 



Fig. XLVUI. 



to those who would place the former geuus in this natural order. It is said to have 

 quite the appearance ofPlantago pusilla. . • \ 



According to Ad. Brongniart, the stem of a Lyco- 

 podiom is almost identical, anatomically, with the root 

 of Ferns. 



In geographical distribution these follow the same 

 laws as Ferns, being most abundant in hot humid 

 situations in the tropics, and especially in small island-. 

 As they approach the north they become scarcer ; but 



even in the climate of northern Europe, in Lapland ' Y ^*V' O^ 



itself, whole tracts are covered with Lycopodium 

 alpiuum and Selaginoides. 



The powder contained in the spore-cases of Lyco- 

 podium clavatum and Selago is highly inflammable; 

 shaken out and collected it is employed under the 

 name of Lycopode, or vegetable brimstone, on the Con- 

 tinent, in the manufacture of fireworks,and in pharmacy 

 to roll tip pills, which when coated with it may be put into water without being 

 moistened. The plant of Lycopodium clavatum has long been used as an emetic, and that 

 of L. .Selago as a cathartic ; but it is said that if the dose is not small it is followed by 

 faintneas and convulsions ; it is regarded as a powerful irritant, and has been externally 

 employed for keeping blisters open, and as a counter-irritant in cases of inflamed eyes. 

 The most remarkable plant of the order, however, is the Yatum condenado (Yatum 

 finat Devil, and condenado accursed,) which appears to be the Lycopodium rubrum of 

 Chamisso. Sir YV. Hooker, who calls it L. caiharticum, states that it acts most 

 vehemently as a purgative, and has been administered successfully in Spanish America 

 in cases of elephantiasis. According to Vastring, Clubmosses are likely to become of 

 importance in dyeing : lie asserts, that woollen cloths boiled with Lyeopodiums, especially 

 with L. clavatum, acquire the property of becoming blue when passed through a bath 

 of Brazil wood. Lycopodium Phlegmasia is reputed an aphrodisiac. So also the rock- 

 lily, a name sometimes given to Selaginella convolute, Spring, also called Lycopodium 

 squaniatum, a plant remarkable for its hvgrometrical properties, rolling up into a ball 

 when dry and unrolling again when damped, is asserted by Martins, who found it 

 abundantly in the provinces of Bahia and Pernambuco, to act upon the raucous mem- 

 brane, especially of the uropoetic system. "Potentiam virilem amissam ejus decocto 

 reduci posse perhibent, quo jure nescio." He, however, advises a full trial to be made 

 of these and the East Indian species. 



GENERA. 



'I'lin-si j.teris. //. rnh. 

 Psilotuni, Sic irtt. 



Bernhardia, WOJd. 



Uofftnanma, willd. 



TritUca, Palis. 

 Lycopodium, Linn. 

 St logo, 1 look.et Gren. 

 Huptrzia, Beruh 



Lepidotis, Palis. | Viptostachyvm, Palis. 



Chamaeclinis, Mart. Gymnogynwm, Palis. 



Bi laginella, Spring. I PhyllojjlossuLu, Kwize 

 Stachygynandrum,Vs. , 



Numbers. Gen. 1. Sp. 200. (Hooker.) 



Conifers. 



Position. — Ophioglossaccaj.— Lycopodiace.e.- 



-Marsileacese. 



X l.VI 1 1. — Lycopodium apoduin — after Payer. 



Spring Monographic dc la/amille dus Lycopodiaeies, ito. Brussels, 1S41M9. Karl Mailer in Botan. Zeitutig, 



July 31, 1816. 



the 

 to 



The following ample account cf modern attempts to explain the nature of < 

 reproductive organs of Lycopoda is condensed from Mr. Henfrcy's valuable report, 

 which I am already so much indebted: — 



The fructification of this family consists, as is well known, of spikes clothed with 

 trmt-leajes, bearing on their inner faces sporangia containing spores. These spores 

 are Oi two kinds. One sort occur in large numbers in their sporangium, and are very 

 the others are much larger, and only four are met with in a sporangium. 



' .,' '" ""P'H.ims, iuoso wiui tne small spores antherids ; but he did not me 



o attribute a BezuaJ antithesis, merely a morphological one, as he expressly states. 



