602 LTCOPODIACE^. (CLTJB-MOSS FAMILY.) 



2. B. 'VirginiiClim, Swartz. Sterile fmnd sessile above the middle of the 

 stalk of the fertile one, ternate ; the shoilrStalked primary divisions once or twice 

 pinnate, and then once or twice pinnatifid, thin, the lohes cut-toothed towards 

 tlie apex, oblong ; fructification mostly 2-pinnate : plant 1 ° - 2° high, or often 

 reduced to 5' -10', when it is B. gracile, Pursh. — Eich woods; common. 

 July, Aug. (Bu.) 



Var. % simplex (B. simplex, Hitchcock) appears to be a remarkably de- 

 pauperate state of this, only 2' - 5' high ; the sterile frond reduced to a single 

 short-stalked division, and simply or doubly pinnatifid, the lobes obovate or 

 oblong, thinner, and the veins more perceptible than in the European B. Luna- 

 ria. — W. New England, New York, and nortliwaid. 



20. OPHIOGLiOSSirM, L. Addee's-Tongue. (Tab. 13.) 



Erond a naked stalk rising straight, bearing a lateral sterile portion resembling 

 in form an entire leaf with finely reticulated immersed veins, and a simple 

 terminal spike, on the edges of which the opaque and coriaceous sessile veinless 

 sporangia are closely packed, in 2 ranks, all more or less coherent together, so 

 as to appear necklace-jointed, transversely 2-valved. Spores copious, sulphur- 

 color. (Name compounded of t^is^ a serpent, and y\ai(T(Ta, tongue.) 



1. O. vnlg^atlllll, L. Sterile frond (in the N. American form) obovate 

 or ovate with a tapering sessile base (l'-3' long), and mostly borne below the 

 middle of the stalk of the fertile spike. — Bogs and meadows: not common. 

 June. (Eu.) 



Okdeb 137. L,YCOPODIACE.aE. (Club-Moss Family.) 



Low plants, usually of Moss-like aspect, with their solid and often woody 

 stems thicMy clothed with sessile awl-shaped or lanceolate persistent and sim- 

 ple leaves, hearing the 2 - i-^alved spore-cases sessile in their axils ; repre- 

 sented by only two genera. 



1. 1,YC0P6DIUM, L., Spiing. CLns-Moss. (Tab. U.) 



Spore-cases of one kind (sporangia, much like those of Ophioglossum, only 

 larger), coriaceous, flattened, usually kidney-shaped, 1-celled, opening by a trans- 

 verse line round the margin, thus 2-valved, discharging the subtile spores in the 

 form of a copious sulphur-colored inflammable powder. — Perennials, with ever- 

 green 1-nervcd leaves, imbricated or crowded in 4 - 16 ranks. (Name compound- 

 ed of \vKos, a wolf, and jroC j, foot, from no obvious resemblance. ) 



^ 1. Sporangia scattered in the axils of the m-dinary and uniform [dark-green and 

 shining, rigid, about 8-ranked) leaves. 

 1 . li. luciduluin, Michx. Stems thick, 2 or 3 times forked, the branches 

 ascending (6' -12' high); leaves widely spreading or refiexed, linear-lanceolate, 

 acute, minutely toothed. — Cold, damp woods ; common northward, and south- 

 ward along the higher AUeghanies. August. 



