LITTLE CLUB-MOSSES 99 



fan-like form. The leaves are narrow and pointed, and all except 

 the youngest ones spread out from the stem. There is no distinct 

 " club " or cone, but the upper leaves of the branches, which 

 are broader than the lower ones, and yellowish instead of dark- 

 green, bear the spore-cases. Very often the spore-cases are 

 replaced by buds or " bulbils/' which fall off and give rise to 

 new plants. These bodies are easily recognised by their pale 

 green colour. 



The "Little Club-Mosses " (Selaginella) have more delicate 

 leaves than the true club-mosses. One species grows in bogs 

 and marshes in various parts of Britain, except in southern 

 England, but many are cultivated in greenhouses for ornament. 

 The stem is usually slender and creeping, and sends down a root 

 at each point where it branches, this root only branching when 

 it grows into the soil. In most kinds there are two sets of leaves 

 on the stem larger leaves in a row at each side, and much smaller 

 ones forming two rows on the upper surface of the stem. 



The cones are on short, special branches, with all the leaves 

 alike, and usually in four rows. The upper spore-cases contain 

 large numbers of small spores, but the lowest ones are larger, and 

 contain each only four large spores. 



The germination of the spores is not easy to follow, the pro- 

 thalli being extremely small. But if you sow both kinds of 

 spore together on damp soil you may get young Selaginella plants, 

 each coming from one of the large spores. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. Campbell, Structure and, Development of Mosses and Ferns 

 (Macmillan) ; Step, Wayside and Woodland Ferns (Warne). 



