374 CLUB-MOSS FAMILY. 



# Stems trailing, sending out rootlets nearly up to the end. 



■*- Branchlets only 1" broad: leaves wide apart in each row. 



S. delicatissima. Stems 4' - 8' long, irregularly forked and branched ; 

 branches rather distant ; leaves oblong-roundish, obtuse, with a few slender 

 cilia towards the base ; intermediate ones ovate, pointed. 



^- ^- Branchlets 2" - 3" broad, their leaves closely placed in each row. 



S. Kraussi&na. (Ltcopodium benticulXtum of the florists.) Stems 

 rery long, articulated below each branch ; branches distant, bearing a few short 

 forked brauchlets ; ■ leaves bright green, the larger ones oblong-ovate, acute, 

 rounded on the upper side, nearly straight on the lower, minutely denticulate ; 

 smaller ones with longer often reflexed points. 



S. unciudlta. (Lyc. ciisiUM of florists.) Stems very long, not articu- 

 lated, freely branched ; branches 2 - 3-pinnate with short ci-owded branchlets ; 

 leaves when living with a steel-blue iridescence, fading to gi-een when dried, very 

 closely placed, larger ones oblong, equal-sided, obtuse, entire; smaller ones 

 ovate with slender incurved points. 



* * Stems ascending, only the lower part bearing long rootlets. 



S. Maftt^nsii. (Lyc. STOLOsfrERUM of florists.) Stems 6' -10' long, 



much branched from the base ; branches bipinnate, with copious branchlets 



2" - 3" or even 4" wide ; larger leaves crowded, obliquely ovato, the upper side 



broadest, obtuse, entire ; smaller ones ovate with a slender often recurved point. 



* * * Stems erect, or nearly so, rooting only at the very base, 



S. er^thropus. Stalk 2' - 6' high, bright red, having a few closely ap- 

 pressed red leaves, and bearing at the top a broad frond-like stem pinnately or 

 pedately divided into a few 2-3 times pinnate branches, with very numerous 

 extremely crowded branchlets 1" - 1^" wide; leaves closely imbricated, obliquely 

 ovate-oblong, curved upward, rather obtuse, ciliate ; smaller ones ovate, with 

 long straifiht points. 



S. Braiinii. (Lyc. 'Wili.i>en6vii of florists.) Stalk straw-color or pale 

 red, shorter than in the last, finely pubescent, as are the branches ; frond-like 

 stems long-ovate, 4 times pinnate, resembling an elegant fern ; branchlets not 

 crowded, about 1" wide; leaves scarcely imbricated, ovate, obtuse, entire; 

 smaller ones with straight points. 



* # * * Stems in a dense nest-like tt^, not rooting : branches often curling up 

 when dry. 



S. cuspid&ta. (Lyc. circinXle of florists.) Frond-like stems 6'-S' 

 long, green above, paler beneath, oblong or lyi-e-shaped, loosely 3-pinnate ; 

 branchlets 1" wide ; leaves obliquely triangular-ovate, wiih long often incurved 

 bristle-points, having a narrow whitish margin, sparingly ciliated and minutely 

 denticulate ; smaller ones obliquely ovato, with long slender points. 



S. lepidoph^lla, from Lower California, &c., is the " Biid'sNest Moss,'' 

 or " Resurrec;iori-Plant." It is a nest-like ball when dry, but when moist it un- 

 folds and displays the densely 2 -3-pinnate elegant fern-like branches radiating 

 from a coiled-up central stem; the leaves white-margined, closely imbricated, 

 round-ovate, obtuse. — Nearly, 30 species are cultivated in Great Britain, besides 

 those here described, 



3. ISOETES, QUILL WORT. (Name from the Greek words for ejua/ and 

 year, meaning that the plant is the same at all seasons.) The species demand 

 too nice discrimination for the beginner, and must be studied by aid of the 

 Manual. 



I. lactistris, rather rare only N., and the far commoner 

 I. echin6spora, are the principal northern species, living under water. 



I. ripkria and I. Engelm^uni, with leaves 4' - 20' long, live partly 

 out of water, at least for a pan of the summer. 



I. melandpoda, only W., lives in shallow ponds or pools which dry up in 

 Bummer. 



