THELYCOPODIACE^. 



N the early days of plant study, long 

 before the art of simpling had crys- 

 taljized into the science of botany, 

 people had very hazy ideas regarding 

 the affinities of plants, and the most 

 diverse were often placed in the same 

 group. The Lycopodiaceae were then 

 thought to be mosses, but the fact that 

 the)' bear their spores in club-shaped 

 spikes did not escape notice, and they 

 were accordingly called club-mosses to 

 distinguish them from the true mosses, 

 which bear their spores in capsules. 

 Although everyone nowadays knows 

 that the club-mosses are not very 

 closely related to the mosses, the name 

 is so convenient and descriptive that it 

 is likely always to be used in speaking 

 of them. 



In appearance the club-mosses 

 are as different from the scouring- 

 rushes as one could \\'ell imagine. 

 The most noticeable character- 

 istics of the scouring-rushes are 

 the great development of stem 

 and the small functionless leaves, 

 Amoss Capsule. while the club-mosses are remark- 



