364 
LYCOPODIACE^. 
or interrupted aspect of the branches.”'^' This assertion would 
surely never have been made without what the learned author 
believed sufficient ground, and it is with considerable hesita- 
tion that I venture to express an opinion at variance with that 
of so observant a botanist, but I must confess that the specimens 
I have examined by no means bear out the opinions I have 
quoted ; indeed, were the hypothesis a correct one, should we 
not find the spike occupying indifferently any joint of the 
branch, and not so generally confined to those which are nume- 
rically the same ? Moreover, in a specimen now before me 
from the herbarium of Mr. S. P. Woodward, the spike exhibits 
all the symptoms of incipient decay. 
The branches, throughout their length, are clothed with linear 
leaves, which are very acutely pointed and have minute lateral 
serratures : those on the older portions are somewhat more scat- 
tered and distant, an appearance caused by the elongation of 
the stem itself, the leaves being persistent, and enduring for 
very many years. Those on the lower portion of the erect 
branches are often somewhat reflexed, while on the more recent 
growth they are erect, more crowded, and somewhat imbricated. 
Smith says that the leaves are ranged in five rows ; and an at- 
tentive examination of the plant leads one to agree with this ‘ 
remark, still the character is not noticeable, and can only be 
traced with difficulty. 
The spike is oblong, terminal, and completely sessile ; the 
long peduncle, which in the Common Club-Moss separates the 
spike from the leafy part of the branch, is entirely wanting, a 
character amply sufficient to distinguish this species from the 
foregoing. The leaves or bracts in the spike are nearly round, 
yet have a pointed apex ; their edges are membranous and 
jagged ; they become reflexed when the seed is shed : in the 
axil of each is situated a large, conspicuous, reniform capsule, 
which, when ripe, opens transversely, allowing the escape of 
numerous minute, sulphur- coloured seeds. 
^ Eng. Flor. iv. 321. 
