914 VI. LYCOPODIACE^l. 



SPORANGIA (oophoridia, spherotheca), less numerous, solitary and very large, or 4-5-6 

 at the base of the spike, or indeterminate in number, and mixed with the micro- 

 sporangia, sometimes placed on distinct spikes, and as it were monoecious, 2-3-lobed 

 and valved, and containing 3-4-8 sub-globose bodies (macrospores). The MACRO- 

 SPORES are the true spores, which are much larger than the microspores, and alone 

 have the power of germinating ; they are rounded on the outer side, and present 

 where they are in contact within the sporangium 3-4 triangular faces, somewhat 

 flattened, and separated by more or less projecting lines; the prothallus springs 

 from the point where these lines meet. PBOTHALLUS orbicular, composed of 3-4 

 layers of cells; the archegonia are developed on its surface, and are somewhat similar 

 to those of Ferns. No one has yet seen the germination of the microspores,, which 

 are only sexual organs of all Lycopods but Selaginella. 



GENERA. 

 PsilQtum. Tmesipteris. Lycopodium. Selaginella. Phylloglossum. 



The fertilization of Lycopods is still very obscure. In true Lycopods, in which the sporocarps are 

 all alike (Lycopodutm, l^ilotum, c.), we only find microspores, apparently homogeneous, but perhaps 

 of two different natures, mixed in the same sporangium. It is different in Sdaf/inella, where we can 

 trace the development of the embryonic vesicle and of the embryo, precisely as in Ferns. Oue arche- 

 goniuni alone is fertile, and it is not rare to find at the base of the young plant the remains of the pro- 

 thallus laden with sterile archegonia. One peculiarity of the formation of the embryo in Selayinetta 

 is, that at the moment when fertilization takes place, the cavity of the spore partially fills with a very 

 delicate cellular tissue. The embryonic vesicle grows, becomes divided, and lengthens into a filament 

 which buries itself in the middle of this fresh tissue. Then the lower cells of the filament multiply and 

 form a small cellular mass, from which spring the first bud and the radicle. Thus formed, the embryo 

 quickly rends the prothallus, and gives birth to a young plant. 



Lycopodiaeete, ta at present defined, art? closely allied to I^oftea only; they differ in the regular 

 and valvate dehiacence of the sporangia and the number of the macrosporea, which are four and rarely 

 eight, while they are numerous in Isoefeef. 



The creeping species grow at one end, while the other end decays, so that they travel, like the rhi- 

 zomes of many Phsenogams ( Caret; Iris, Polygoitatutn, &c.). Some Lycopods (L. venustulmn, curvatttm, 

 &c.) recall by their dichotomous and leafy stems certain fosses of the coal formation (Catamites) ; 

 their cone-shaped fructification resembles the structure of another fossil, the Triplonporites, described 

 by 11. Brown, and placed by him between Lycojtodiaceat and ()phioylossc<. There is also a resem- 

 blance between Lycopodiacca and Gymnosperins. 



About <%0 Lycopodiacea: are now known, of which 100 are Lycopods and 200 Selaginellas. This 

 group is represented up to the polar regions by Lycopodium Selayo, ilpinum, compkmatwn, inaf/eltanicitm, 

 as well as by SclnyineUa spiwilusti, helvetica and dcntindata, which advance to the snow Hmit, where 

 S. sfinyifinolenta is met with on the Altai and towards the mouth of the Amoor. PhyUvglmwiw (P. 

 Saiif/ttisorba^ Spg.), the smallest known species, resembling in habit a very small Pltmtayo pttsilln 

 (an inch or two in height), is found on the west coast of Australia, and in New Zealand. Tmcsipti-ri* 

 belongs to Australia, Psilohnn to Madagascar, the Mascarene, the Moluccas and the Sandwich Islands. 



We have no very precise knowledge of the proper ties of Lycopodia&xf. The Club Moss (L. clauatum), 

 which grows in the mountainous woods of Europe, is an insipid herb, still administered in Russia for 

 hydrophobia. The grammes \yhich till the sporangia are extremely inflammable, and form ' vegetable 

 sulphur,' which is valuable for theatrical purposes [to produce lightning]. This dust is also used for 

 rollin^ pills in, and medicinally as a desiccator, to cure excoriations in the skin of young infants. A 

 decoction of //. Sehiyo is emetic, drastic, vermifuge and emmenagogue ; L. myrsmitin and eatkarticwn are 

 also considered purgative. The root of L, Phleymaria is slightly salt; the Indians attribute to it mar- 



