LYCOPODIUM. 187 



there seems no good reason to doubt, at least, that there is 

 a very close affinity between the two races; and, indeed, 

 some of the most skilful investigators of this subject find an 

 almost complete agreement between them. 



The British species of this order are all included in the 

 genus LyQopodmm, the name of which comes from lycos, a 

 wolf, and podos, a foot, and is given in allusion to the sup- 

 posed resemblance of its forked fertile stems to the claw of 

 some animal, as of the wolf. Hence one species, and that 

 which probably suggested the name, has been called Wolf s- 

 claw. 



LYCOPODIUM ALPINUM, Linnaus. Savin-leaved Club- 

 moss. 



This kind of Club-moss gets its trivial name from the 

 resemblance between its branches clothed with the closely- 

 pressed leaves, and those of the Savin, Juniperus Sabina. 

 It is a pretty little evergreen plant, forming thick wide- 

 spreading patches of round, tough, creeping, sparingly leafy 

 stems, bearing numerous other erect stems which are re- 

 peatedly branched in a dichotomous manner, growing erect, 

 from three to six inches high. The colour of the plant is 

 a bright pleasant green. The smaller branches are set 

 more or less closely with the small smooth sessile leaves, 



