LYCOPODIUM. 
195 
and more rarely a triplet. These cones are covered with 
triangular bracts, heart-shaped at the base and termi- 
nating in a sharp point ; in the axils of the bracts the 
capsules lie concealed. When the seed is ripe, the 
capsules burst, the bracts turn back, and the cones as- 
sume a dishevelled appearance. 
This Club-moss is a frequent inhabitant of our hills 
and moors, creeping along the ground beneath the tall 
heath and ling, or among the sward, and raising its twin 
cones like a pair of horns at short distances. 
Pretty ornaments are formed of this plant by rustic 
belles and beaux in the style commemorated by Words- 
worth. Linnaeus describes how the Lapland boys weave 
it into crowns, and Tragus records the same custom 
with reference to German girls. In former days, Ar- 
debil, in Persia, was famed for its fireworks, the flames 
rising suddenly in the air and as suddenly disappearing. 
Olearius ascribes this wonderful effect to the use of 
“ Russian Plaun, a yellow dust beaten out of the Beer- 
lap or Devil’s Claw.” He proceeds to describe the 
plant, a 'description which exactly tallies with that of 
our Wolf s-claw, and states that the cones are collected 
in August, then dried in a furnace, and the powder after- 
wards beaten out and sold by pound. Sir J. E. Smith 
informs us that this dust is still used in Germany to 
produce artificial lightning on the stage, and that it pos- 
sesses a healing property when applied to the human 
skin. In some places it is used to fix colours in dyeing, 
instead of alum. It is said to be a remedy for the ter- 
rible disease called Plica Polonica. 
To induce this plant to grow in the fernery, pieces of 
sandstone should be placed on a stratum of peat-earth, 
and the branches pegged firmly down ; if the drainage 
o 2 
