138 OUR NATIVE FERNS AND THEIR ALLIES. 



sharply quadrangular, 5" — 8" long, about \" in diarr.e'xr ; bracts 

 similar in texture to the leaves but broader at the base, with a 

 shorter and stouter terminal awn and usually with more cilia 

 on the margin. New England and Ontario, southward to Ala- 

 bama and westward to California and British Columbia. 



Var. Fendleri Underw. Differs from the Eastern forms of 

 the species in its lax, less crowded leaves, which are tipped with 

 a shorter white awn and their margins with short denticulate 

 cilia ; the spikes are flabby and flexuous and the macrospores 

 are more coarsely areolate. Colorado and New Mexico. 



3. S. densa Rydberg. Densely tufted ; sterile branches 

 very short, crowded, and generally incurved ; leaves densely 

 crowded, many-ranked, i\" — 2j" long, linear or needle-shaped 

 in age, slightly flattened and grooved dorsally, the margin cili- 

 ate, tipped with a white bristle nearly i" long ; fertile branches 

 erect, I' — f long ; bracts imbricated, thick, triangular-ovate, 

 deeply grooved dorsally, ciliate on the margin and tipped with 

 a white bristle half as long as that of the leaves. Western 

 Nebraska to Montana and southward in the mountains. 



4. S. bryoides (Nutt.) Underw. Stems very slender, pros- 

 trate, rooting the entire length, with short lateral branches, 

 ultimately forming a dense tuft ; leaves appressed, rigid, cin- 

 ereous, slightly grooved, with 6 — 8 minute divergent or erect 

 spines on either side ; spike short, twice the diameter of the 

 stem, with broadly ovate, acute scales ; macrospores pale lemon- 

 colored, the lower portions with reticulate rope-like ridges, the 

 upper surfaces papillose ; microspores usually on distinct spikes, 

 dark orange, with prominent spinules. (5. cinei-ascens A. A. 

 Eaton, Lycopodium bryoides Nutt.) Southern California. 



II II Leaves blunt or etidzng in a minute green poi7it. 



5. S. Watsoni Underw. Stems short, li' — 2^' long, creep- 

 ing, sparingly short-branched, rooting throughout the entire 

 length ; leaves rather short, stout, deeply channeled dorsally, 

 ending abruptly in a short, stout, smooth, mostly curved green 

 awn, 0.25 — 0.35 mm. long; margins with few cilia or none, when 

 present not exceeding 0.07 mm. in length ; spikes \' — i' long 

 sharply quadrangular, the bracts broader at base, lanceolate- 

 ovate to ovate, with shorter and stouter awns. High mountains 

 of Utah, Nevada, and California. 



