SELAGINELLAS. 



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Varieties. — In making a selection of the species 

 to be mentioned here, we may take as a guide 

 the collection of Selaginellas in cultivation at Kew, 

 where no less than sixty distinct species and varieties 

 may be seen, and by bringing t into prominence those 

 kinds which there prove to be very ornamental and 

 of the easiest possible cultivation, we may perhaps 

 do something towards popularising a remarkably 

 beautiful and varied group of elegant foliage 

 plants. 



Tropical Species. 

 For these a summer temperature of 70° to 75°, 

 and in winter 60° to 65° are required, though in a 

 dry house with a light aspect the latter temperature 

 is 5° higher than would be really necessary. 



S. atroviridis — this grows to 

 about one foot in height, 

 with rather stout stems, 

 which are clothed with 

 broad, overlapping scale- 

 leaves of firm texture, and 

 olive-green in colour. It 

 is one of the most distinct 

 of the sub-erect, broad- 

 leaved group, of which S. 

 Martensii is the best- 

 known example. A native 

 of the Malay Peninsula. 



S. caualiculata has a cylin- 

 drical stem about half an 

 inch in diameter, smooth, 

 shining, reddish-brown in 

 colour, the surface thinly 

 covered with the green 

 scale-leaves. The main 

 branches are developed in 

 a distichous manner, and 

 are semi-erect, and from 

 these lateral branches are 

 produced. The length 

 of one of these main 

 branches upon a plant 

 at Kew measured three 

 feet. East Indies. Intro- 

 duced recently under 

 several names — viz., S. 

 conferta, S. muricata, and 

 S. caudata, and probably 

 S. cognata. 



S. caulescens — stem erect, 

 about a foot high,branched 

 upon the upper portion, 

 with frond-like pinnate 

 leaves, which are pale 

 green, and thin in texture. 

 The variety Japonica has 

 less crowded pinnae, which 

 are not so deeply cut as in 

 the type; the variety ar- 

 gentea has long pale green 

 pinnae, which are silvery 

 on the under side. 



S. convoluta — very similar 

 to the Resurrection plant, 

 or Hygrometric Club- 

 moss, botanically known 

 as S. lepidophylla. The 

 foliage of S. convoluta is 

 dark bluish-green in col- 

 our, and is remarkable for 

 its producing adventitious 

 buds as in the Aspleniums, 

 but in the Selaginella the 

 proliferous portions -are 

 merely fragments of the 

 leaves, which form roots 

 before falling to the 



ground, where they soon 

 establish themselves. The 

 fronds have a curiously 

 wrinkled, or crimped, 

 appearance, and are some- 

 what firm in texture. 

 Tropical America. 



S. cnspidata — generally 

 known as Lycopodium 

 cordifolium. It has tufted 

 stems a foot in length, 

 freely branched, and is 

 noted for the beautiful 

 green and elegantly di- 

 vided character of its 

 white-edged foliage. It 

 is one of the Rosulate 

 group, and when well- 

 grown forms a specimen 

 not unlike Tod cea superna. 

 The variety elongata is 

 even more elegant than 

 the type, having long, 

 arching, graceful fronds, 

 which sometimes attain 

 to two feet in length. 

 Tropical America. 



S. erythropus — a handsome 

 species with erect, bright 

 crimson stems, eight or 

 ten inches long, and 

 clothed with recurved 

 branches, upon which the 

 tiny scale-leaves are close- 

 packed, having a very nice 

 effect. In well - grown 

 specimens the fronds are 

 freely branched, and when 

 in fruit the fringe of tiny 

 spikes which surround the 

 margins of every division 

 of the frond is very orna- 

 mental. This is some- 

 times called S. setosa and 

 S. umbrosa. Tropical 

 America. 



S. flabellata— closely allied 

 to the last-mentioned 

 species, but differs from 

 it and the rest of the Cau- 

 lescent group in having 

 its fronds recurved much 

 more distinctly. Stems 

 about two feet in height, 

 erect, branched above, 

 with pale green foliage 

 closely packed along the 

 upper portion of the 

 branches. Tropics of both 

 worlds. 



S. flexuosa — a plumose 

 species, with erect stems 



a foot long, freely branched 

 at the base, the under 

 sides of the fronds freely 

 rooted. It has been called. 

 Lycopodium stolonife- 

 rum. South Brazil; re- 

 cently introduced to cul- 

 tivation. 



S. Galeotii— a long-fronded, 

 graceful species, with 

 stems about a foot long, 

 from which the branches 

 or fronds often grow to 

 a length of three feet. 

 Trailing rather than 

 climbing. The smaller 

 branchlets are thickly 

 covered with small over- 

 lapping scale-leaves. 

 Mexico. 



S. grandis — this is the hand- 

 somest of the larger-grow- 

 ing kinds, and one of the 

 most beautiful of foliage 

 plants. It has broad, 

 flattened, bright shining 

 green fronds, the upper 

 portion curving over so as 

 to present a curiously 

 rounded surface, which, 

 shines like the scales on 

 a salmon's back ; they 

 measure quite a foot 

 across. When mature the 

 fronds produce a close 

 fringe of graceful, tassel- 

 like fruit-spikes, which 

 hang downwards, and add 

 to the beauty of the 

 plant. Syn.,S.platyphylla. 

 Borneo. 



S. hseinatodes— one of the 

 finest of all cultivated 

 Selaginellas. Stem erect, 

 bright crimson, un- 

 brauched below, and bear- 

 ing upon its apex a large 

 deltoid frond, the divi- 

 sions closely overlapping 

 each other ; upper surface 

 a bright shining green, 

 the under side being much 

 lighter and glossy . When 

 well grown the fronds are 

 frequently twelve inches 

 across. At Kew the enor- 

 mous specimens of this 

 Selaginella form one of 

 the principal attractions 

 in the Tropical Fernery. 

 Tropical South America. 



S. inaBqualifolia — closely re- 

 lated to S. caualiculata. 

 The stems are semi-erect, 

 sometimes four feet in 

 height, and bear oblong 

 lance-shaped pinnae, six 

 inches long, which are 

 much divided and are a 

 rich deep green colour. 

 It grows very quickly, and 

 in a tropical moist house 

 soon forms a handsome 

 specimen. Var. bellula is 

 dwarfer in habit and has 

 shorter pinnae. East 

 Indies. 



S laevigata is distinguished 

 by its pale green colour 

 and rigid, falcate, pointed, 

 almost spine-tipped leaves. 

 It produces a frond about 

 two feet in length, which 

 spreads out almost hori- 

 zontally, and, owing to its 

 firm,almost woody nature, 

 retains this position from 



base to point. It is some- 

 times called S. pectinata,. 

 and a variety of it is in 

 cultivation under the 

 name of S. Lyalli. Mada- 

 gascar. 



S. Lobbii — this has erect 

 slender stems three to- 

 four feet in height, and 

 clothed with numerous 

 alternate branches, which 

 are feather-like, and are 

 arranged at right angles 

 with the stem. The colour 

 of the foliage is a bright 

 green. The fronds some- 

 times turn to a curious 

 metallic green when old. 

 A rare plant in cultiva- 

 tion, but represented at 

 Kew by several large 

 specimens. Borneo and 

 Sumatra. 



S. patula — one of the Mar- 

 tensii group, with decum- 

 bent stems, nine inches to • 

 a foot in length, branched, 

 the branches narrow and 

 short except the terminal 

 one, which is lengthened 

 out to a long whip-like 

 tip. Jamaica. 



S. pluniosa — a dwarf species, 

 with branches about half 

 an inch wide anddistinctly 

 flattened out, or rather 

 the distichous arrange- 

 ment of the leaves pro- 

 duces that appearance. 

 The stems are pale green 

 in colour and do not gene- 

 rally extend to more than 

 a foot in length. It forms 

 a pretty tuft of dense 

 d ark green feathery foliage 

 if planted in shallow pans 

 and kept rather moist.. 

 There are several varieties 

 of it in cultivation. East 

 Indies. 



S. serpens— a pretty little 

 Moss-like species, the 

 stems growing closely to 

 the ground. By means of 

 these roots this species is 

 enabled to cling to any 

 moist surface, such as 

 walls, stones, on rockeries, 

 or even to wood. The 

 upper surface of the 

 foliage becomes almost 

 white towards the evening 

 of a summer's day, resum- 

 ing its normal green colour 

 again during the night. 

 This phenomenon is sup- 

 posed to be the result of 

 changes caused in the 

 colour of the chlorophyll 

 by the action of light. 

 Syns., S. variabilis, S. 

 varians, S. mutabilis, and 

 S. Jamaicensis. West 

 Indies. 



S. Victoriae— very similar to 

 S. Wallichii. The stems 

 are from three to four feet 

 in height, semi- erect, 

 forming along with the 

 alternate branches a 

 broad, flattened frond.. 

 The stems spring from a 

 central tuft as in a Todcea, 

 the fronds measure a foot 

 or even more in width, 

 and are bright shiniDg. 

 green in colour. A very 



