120 DECUMBENT LYCOPODIUMS. 



no doubt, ho\ve\-ci-, that it is distinct from Lycopodiitm 

 inundaium. Tlie common name of " fox-tail club- 

 moss " has been gi\en this species in allusion to the 

 bushy spike of fruit like a fox's tail. 



T'he Carolina Club-Moss. 



The Carolina club -moss {Lycopodium Carolinianum') 

 is one of the most diminutive of its race, and its 

 claims to being the smallest North American species 

 could not be contested with any prospects of success by 

 any save the bog club-moss. In the northern part of its 

 range, at least, it is clearly entitled to the honour, and it 

 is only when ^^■e include the more robust plants of the 

 South that any doubts arise. 



The sterile stems of this species are from one to four 

 inches long and are appressed to the earth, clinging so 

 closely by means of numerous roots that the plant can 

 scarcely be got up entire without the use of knife or 

 trowel. Owing to their position the stems are markedly 

 dorsi-ventral, and the leaves are of two sorts, the larger 

 often a quarter of an inch long, borne on the sides of 

 the stem and spreading ; the others awl-shaped and 

 borne on the upper side of the stem. The large leaves 

 are ovate-lanceolate with a broad base, entire margins, 

 and pointed apex. In these, one side is longer than the 

 other, causing them to curve sidewise and throwing the 

 tiny midrib a little to one side of the middle. Although 

 so short, the stems usually produce one or two small 

 spreading branches. 



The fruiting-stems, of which there appears to be but 

 one to a plant, no matter how robust the specimen, rise 

 from the older portion and often reach a height of ten 



