374 LYCOPODIUM CLAVATUM. PART n. 



the protrusion of threads, as in ferns or mosses. On 

 this prothallus, archegonia are soon produced, the 

 embryo being formed from a cell at its base ; this sends 

 down roots on one side, and a minute stem with the 

 two primary leaves of the young plant at the other. 

 The plant thus bears a close resemblance to a young 

 plant of the dicotyledons, and exhibits, with regard to 

 fructification, the highest organization of which the 

 Cryptogams are capable, although in their tissues the 

 Lycopods are inferior to the Equisetaceee and Marsi- 

 leacese. 



There are four genera of this order, very widely dis- 

 persed, most abundant and larger in the hot moist 

 parts of India and the Indian islands, but large tracts 

 are covered with them within the arctic circles and in 

 temperate latitudes. There are 200 species of the genus 

 Lycopodium, or Wolfs-claw, and of these, six only are 

 indigenous in Britain ; they grow in very exposed situa- 

 tions, as in the case of L. clavatum, which lives on up- 

 land heaths and pastures, and which has a procumbent 

 stem, creeping for many feet or yards, sending out 

 branches in all directions, with a pair of cones at their 

 extremities, and strong roots at intervals to fix it to the 

 ground. Lycopodium inundatum forms large patches 

 on the marshes in the south of England. New Zealand 

 has many more species of this genus than Britain, and 

 some of the noblest specimens. The dried spores of the 

 L. clavatum are so inflammable, that they have been 

 used on the stage to produce the eifect of lightning. 

 Some Club Mosses yield a blue dye, a colour which is 

 now obtained of a better quality from coal tar. Others 

 possess cathartic properties, but although they have 

 been used as medicine, they are very dangerous from 

 the violence of their effects. 



The genus Selaginella has a moss- like habit. The 

 stem is generally creeping, and flat-looking from being 



