OBSERVATIONS ON LYCOPODIUM SELA- 

 GO-LUCIDULUM. 



By J. B. Flett. 



There has been some discussion in recent volumes of 

 The Ferx Bulletin in regard to Lycopodium selago 

 and Lycopodium lucidulum. In August, 1901, I col- 

 lected a large form very closely resembling L. lucidulum. 

 This grew in dense cedar woods where the moss covered 

 the rich black soil. The altitude was about 2200 feet. 

 The locality was on the southwest side of Mount Tacoma 

 and about six miles from the base of the mountain. My 

 specimens were distributed without specific name under 

 number 1905. Some of the Doctors called it L. selago 

 and some L. lucidulum. Others were silent. The editor 

 of The Fern Bulletin made it a form of L. lucidulum. 

 (See Vol. XL. page 12.) In the same volume, page 46, 

 there is a quotation from Rhodora in which L.H. Harvey 

 states that L. selago imperceptibly grades into L. 

 lucidulum. 



During the month of August the writer made a special 

 study of this plant in the region referred to above, where 

 it was first found in 1901. The plant was seen in several 

 stations until an altitude of 4800 feet was reached. Here 

 is grew moistened by the spray of a waterfall, not being 

 over two inches in height. My study coincides with that 

 of Mr. Harvey on Mt. Katahdin. At its extreme altitude 

 the leaves were stiff and formed an acute angle with the 

 stem in strange contrast to the form growing in the 

 dense woods, whose leaves were lax and the whole plant 

 presented a straggling appearance. The writer is not pre- 

 pared to discuss the validity of the species in question. 

 It would be an interesting topic for someone who has 

 made a close study of the two species. The writer would 

 be glad to read such a discussion in some future issue. 

 His conclusion is that the form known as L. selago at a 

 high altitude passes by intermediate forms into the large 

 form of the dense forest. 



Tacoma, Wash. 



