io8 DECUMBENT LYCOPODIUMS. 



upward, and as regularly the parts at the other extreme 

 disappear beneath an accumulation of debris. It is ex- 

 ceedingly rare to find a specimen that is not thus half 

 buried, and in which many of the basal leaves are not 

 yellow and dead in consequence. 



The stems of this species are constructed on a plan 

 somewhat different from that of the trailing species. 

 There is neither rootstock nor main stem in the usual 

 sense, but instead, the whole plant may be likened to 

 one of the primary branches of Lycopodium clavatiun. 

 When the young plant begins growth, there is at first a 

 single short stem. At length this forks at the apex into 

 two equal branches, and these, after lengthening from 

 one to several inches, fork like the original stem, this 

 process continuing yearly during the life of the plant. 

 The stems do not fork every year, but may continue for 

 several seasons simply adding to their length. Growth 

 proceeds very slowly, often not more than an inch a year. 

 The stems attempt to grow erect, but after some years 

 ■the weight causes the stem to become decumbent at base, 

 and it then begins to decay. In the meantime, at inter- 

 vals along tiie old stem, strong roots have been sent 

 down into the soil, and when this decay has reached the 

 first fork there are thus formed two separate plants 

 where there was but one originally. Subsequently these 

 two become four, and so on, a single plant ultimately 

 giving rise to a whole colony. The living plants are 

 often five or six times forked, but the majority fork 

 only two or three times. 



The leaves are about a quarter of an inch long, 

 narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate and sharp-pointed, 

 the outer third of each leaf bearing a few scattered teeth 

 on the margins. They are thickly set on all sides of the 



