DECUMBENT LYCOPODIUMS. 119 



Island, New York, by W. II. McDonald, who named it 

 polyclavatiun. It is like ordinary adpressum with the 

 exception that the fertile steins each bear from two 

 to six short branches, some of which produce fruit cones 

 while others are sterile. 



Still another form of Lycopodhun alopecuroidcs is occa- 

 sionally considered a distinct species and called Lyco- 

 podium piiinatuin. It is a slender plant, growing in 

 wet places, and derives its specific name from the sup- 

 position that its stems are pinnately branched. It 

 is certain, however, that while the stems may appear 

 pinnate they are not really so, and that this is simply a 

 more branched form of the species. Aside from this 

 character the stem is long and slender, and the leaves 

 are inclined to stand out at right angles to the stem, 

 this being due to the watery habitat the form affects. 



Lycopodium alopeciiroides is essentially a tropical plant 

 and within our limits is confined rather closely to the 

 Atlantic and Gulf coasts. In South America it is said 

 to extend to Monte Video. The typical form extends 

 northward to Long Island, where it was first discovered 

 by the author near Babylon. The form pinnatum is a lux- 

 uriant phase of the plant found only in watery situations 

 in the Gulf States. Lycopodium alopecuroides adpressuui 

 extends to the coast of Massachusetts and is the common- 

 est form from New Jersey to Virginia. The plant is a 

 lover of the swampy sand-barrens and often covers large 

 areas. So far as known, both the species and varieties 

 are absent from the interior of the continent. 



The various disguises of this plant have always been a 

 puzzle to botanists. It was first described as a variety 

 of Lycopodium ijntndatwu, and when the forms were 

 discovered they too were named as varieties. There is 



