158 THE CREEPING SELAGINELLA GROUP. 



cate yellowish green, and in time becomes so well known 

 as to be singled out by the eye at considerable distances. 



Most authorities consider this plant an annual, but 

 this is clearly a mistake. It may be found as soon 

 as the snow disappears, though the spores are not 

 ripe until August or September. The beginner has the 

 best chance of finding it early in spring, before the grass 

 has begun to green. It is then most easily found in wet 

 pastures and in grass fields damp enough to permit of a 

 growth of mosses. The hue of its fronds makes it then 

 very conspicuous. 



The creeping selaginella is found from Maine and 

 Ontario to Florida, Texas, and British Columbia. In 

 the greater part of its range it does not seem to be 

 abundant, but its small size and resemblance to the 

 mosses may often enable it to live undiscovered. 



Selaginella Ludoviciana. 



In the American tropics there are at least half a dozen 

 species of Selaginella so nearly like the creeping sela- 

 ginella that they might easily be mistaken for it, and the 

 species called Selaginella Ludoviciana is one of this num- 

 ber. Indeed it has often been suggested that Selaginella 

 Ludoviciana may be only an erect variety of the com- 

 mon creeping species, the differences it presents being 

 accounted for by the different climate in which it grows. 

 To one who has seen it in its native haunts, however, it 

 does not appear to possess many of the characteristics 

 of Selaginella apus, except that in the shape and size of 

 the leaves the two are nearly alike. The stems are from 

 six to eight inches in length and strong enough to hold 

 themselves nearly erect, and the roots usually appear 



