CHAPTER XIII 

 LYCOPODINE^ 



THE Lycopodineae, though far exceeding in number the species 

 of Equisetum, are inferior in number to the Ferns. Baker (2) 

 enumerates 432 species, of which 334 belong to one genus, 

 Selaginella, while another, Lycopodium, has 94. A more re- 

 cent enumeration of the two genera (Pfitzer (2), Hieronymus 

 ( i ) ) indicates a considerably larger number of species, Selagi- 

 nella alone possessing approximately 500 species. Like the 

 Equisetinese they are abundant in a fossil condition, and it is 

 very evident that these ancient forms were, many of them, 

 enormously larger than their living representatives, and more 

 complicated in structure. The living species are mainly trop- 

 ical in their range, but Lycopodium has a number of species 

 common in northern countries, and a few species of Selaginella, 

 e. g., S. rupestris, have a wider range ; but the great majority 

 of the species are found only in the moist forests of the tropics. 

 The gametophyte of the homosporous forms is known best in 

 Lycopodium. Our knowledge of it was based mainly upon 

 the important researches of Treub (2), but these have been 

 added to by Goebel (18) in the case of L. inundatum, and 

 more recently Bruchmann (5) and Lang (i) have succeeded 

 in finding prothallia of several European species, and we now 

 have a very satisfactory account of all but their earliest stages. 



The gametophyte in its earliest condition, so far as is cer- 

 tainly known, develops chlorophyll, and this condition may be 

 permanent, e. g., L. cernuum, but other forms have a chloro- 

 phylless prothallium, and are saprophytic in habit, like Ophio- 

 glossum. The germination of these forms is at present un- 

 known. 



The sporophyte has the axis strongly developed, and the 



483 



