THE ERECT OR DECUMBENT 

 LYCOPODIUMS. 



RITERS on the fern allies usually place the 

 lycopodiumsof the world in four distinct 

 sub-genera, but the plants are all so 

 much alike that no botanist ever thinks 

 of considering any of these divisions 

 as separate genera. The species to be 

 presently 'treated come from three of 

 these sub -genera, and so do not 

 form a natural group ; but since all 

 of them lack the long trailing stems 

 of the other species it will be con- 

 venient to consider them together. 



The Shining Club-Moss. 



On deeply shaded hillsides, where 

 the soil is rich and moist, one may 

 often discover the dark-green and 

 glossy stems of the shining club- 

 moss (Lycopodium liicidiiluiii). To 

 such localities the plant clings per- 

 sistently in spite of the falling leaves 

 and shifting particles of soil that 

 constantly tend to bury it. Year 

 after year its growing tips struggle 



