CHAPTER XXX. 



CLUB MOSSES. 



578. What are called the " club mosses " make up another 

 group ot interesting [ilants which rank as allies of the ferns. 

 They are not of course true mosses, but the general habit of 

 some of the smaller species, and especially the 

 form and size of the lea\'es, suggest a resem- 

 blance to the larger of the moss jjlants. 



579. The clavate lycopodium. — Here is one 

 of the club mosses (fig. 326) wliich has a wide 

 distribution and which is well entitled to hold 

 the name of club because of the form of the u])- 

 right club-shaped branches. As will lie seen 

 from the illustration, it has a prostrate stem. 

 This stem runs for considerable distances on 

 the surface of the ground, often partly buried in 

 the lca\cs, ami sometimes e\'en buried beneath 

 the soil. The leaves are rpiite small, are flat- 

 tened-awl-shaped, and stand thiiklv over the 

 stem, arranged in a spiral manner, \\'hi(h is thi. 

 usual arrangement of the lea\'es of the (hi)' 

 mosses. Here and there are upright l)ranchi^ 

 which are forked several times. The en<l ol 

 one or more of these branches becomes |iro 

 duced into a slender upright stem which is 

 nearly leafless, the lea\es beinij- reduced to uim, branch be.n-ing two 



' Irintiiig spikes; at right 



mere scales. The end of this leallcss bramh Hiur"piiyii with open 



sporanglLini ; single 



tlien ternnnates in one or se\eral cylindrical M-'ure near it. 

 heads which form the club. 



284 



