196 
BRITISH FERNS. 
is good, and tlie stems are left undisturbed, it may be 
cultivated successfully. 
The common Club-moss is found throughout Europe, 
in North America, the West Indian Islands, among the 
mountains of India, at the Cape of Good Hope, and in 
the island of Mauritius. 
50. Lycopodium annotinum. Interrupted Club- 
Moss. 
Stems long and creeping. Branches tall, erect. Foliage in- 
terrupted by clusters of smaller, more compressed leaves. Leaves 
narrow, overlapping spikes, sessile. Bracts broad, heart-shaped, 
pointed, and toothed. Capsules kidney-shaped. 
The Interrupted Club-moss is densely leafy. Sir J. 
E. Smith accounts for the interruptions of more stunted 
foliage by the supposition that 
that part was once occupied 
by bracts and capsules, after 
the ripening and decay of 
which the stalk continued to 
grow from the point of the 
stripped cone, and, after rising 
for a little distance, produced 
another cone of fruit, the fur- 
niture of which fell off and 
made way for another group 
of stunted leaves, a fresh elon- 
gation of stalk, and a new cone from the new apex. The 
roots of this Club-moss are tough and twisting, short, 
and fixing themselves very firmly in the earth. The 
stems put forth clustering branches, which grow in an 
erect form, increasing year by year, the interruptions 
marking each year’s growth. The cones appear on the 
