io8 
BRITISH FERNS. 
clustering branches rise from it at short distances, 
their bluish-green or glaucous hue and plentiful forks 
making them attractive objects. The leaves fold 
closely over each other and are arrayed in four rows, 
thereby giving a sort of square appearance to the 
branches. Sir W. Hooker says he saw stacks of this 
plant in Iceland, stored away to be used as a yellow 
dye for woollen goods. It grows abundantly on hill¬ 
sides in Scotland and the north of England, and in 
most of the northern countries of Europe. 
FIR CLUB MOSS. 
LYCOPODIUM SELAGO. 
(Plate XVI. Fig. 5.) 
This curious plant resembles in appearance the 
young state of the Norfolk Island and other pines. 
It is of a very tough, hard, unyielding nature, and 
suits well the bleak and desolate situations in which it 
is usually found. The branches are thick, clustering, 
and forked, the leaves firm, rigid, and of a dark 
yellowish-green colour. The fructification is situated 
in the axils of the upper leaves, and contained in 
capsules of a kidney shape. The Highlanders use it 
instead of alum to fix colours in dyeing, and an 
infusion of it is sometimes taken as a medicine, but it 
is very powerful and somewhat dangerous. 
