high); sterile pinnules 13--25, varying from oblong-oval to
lance-oblong, finely serrulate, especially toward the apex, otherwise
entire, or crenately lobed toward the rounded, oblique and truncate, or
even cordate and semi-auriculate base, sessile or short-stalked (1--2'
long); the fertile racemose-panicled at the summit of the frond.--Swamps
and wet woods; common. The cordate pinnules sometimes found here are
commoner in Europe. May, June. (Eu.)
[*][*] _Sterile fronds once pinnate; pinnae deeply pinnatifid; the lobes
entire._
2. O. Claytoniana, L. (Pl. 20, fig. 1--3.) Clothed with loose wool when
young, soon smooth; _fertile fronds taller than the sterile_ (2--4 deg.
high); pinnae oblong-lanceolate, with oblong obtuse divisions; _some
(2--5 pairs) of the middle pinnae fertile_, these entirely pinnate;
sporangia greenish, turning brown.--Low grounds, common. May.--Fruiting
as it unfolds.
3. O. cinnamomea, L. (CINNAMON FERN.) Clothed with rusty wool when
young; _sterile fronds tallest_ (at length 3--5 deg. high), smooth when full
grown, the lanceolate pinnae pinnatifid into broadly oblong obtuse
divisions; _fertile fronds separate_, appearing earlier from the same
rootstock and soon withering (1--2 deg. high), contracted, twice pinnate,
covered with the cinnamon-colored sporangia.--Var. FRONDOSA is a rare
occasional state, in which some of the fronds are sterile below and more
sparsely fertile at their summit, or rarely in the middle.--Swamps and
low copses, everywhere. May.
ORDER 132. OPHIOGLOSSACEAE. (ADDER'S-TONGUE FAMILY.)
Leafy and often somewhat fleshy plants; the leaves (_fronds_) simple or
branched, often fern-like in appearance, erect in vernation, developed
from underground buds formed either inside the base of the old stalk or
by the side of it, and bearing in special spikes or panicles rather
large subcoriaceous bivalvular sporangia formed from the main tissue of
the fruiting branches. Prothallus underground, not green, monoecious.--A
small order, separated from Ferns on account of the different nature of
the sporangia, the erect vernation, etc.
1. Botrychium. Sporangia in pinnate or compound spikes, distinct. Veins
free.
2. Ophioglossum. Sporangia cohering in a simple spike. Veins
reticulated.
1. BOTRYCHIUM, Swartz. MOONWORT. (Pl. 20.)
Rootstock very short, erect, with clustered fleshy roots (which are full
of starch, in very minute, irregular granules!); the base of the naked
stalk containing the bud for the next year's frond; frond with an
anterior fertile and a posterior sterile segment; the former mostly
1--3-pinnate, the contracted divisions bearing a double row of sessile
naked sporangia; these are distinct, rather coriaceous, not reticulated,
globular, without a ring, and open transversely into two valves. Sterile
segment of the frond ternately or pinnately divided or compound; veins
all free. Spores copious, sulphur-color. (Name a diminutive of [Greek:
bo/trys], _a cluster of grapes_, from the appearance of the
fructification.)
Sec. 1. BOTRYCHIUM proper. _Base of the stalk containing the bud completely
closed; sterile segment more or less fleshy; the cells of the epidermis
straight._
[*] _Sterile portion of the frond sessile or nearly so at or above the
middle of the plant. Plants small._
1. B. Lunaria, Swartz. _Sterile segment_ nearly sessile, borne near the
middle of the plant, _oblong, simply pinnate with 5--15 lunate or
fan-shaped_ very obtuse crenate, incised or nearly entire, _fleshy
divisions_, more or less excised at the base on the lower or on both
sides, the veins radiating from the base and repeatedly forking; fertile
segment panicled, 2--3-pinnate.--N. Eng. to Lake Superior, and
northward; rare.--Very fleshy, 4--10' high. (Eu.)
2. B. simplex, Hitchcock. Fronds small (2--4', rarely 5--6' high), _the
sterile segment short-petioled from near the middle of the plant,
thickish_ and fleshy, simple and roundish, or _pinnately 3--7-lobed_;
the lobes roundish-obovate, nearly entire, decurrent on the broad and
flat indeterminate rhachis; _the veins all forking from the base_;
fertile segment simple or 1--2-pinnate.--Maine to N. Y., Minn., and
northward; rare. (Eu.)
3. B. lanceolatum, Angstroem. Fronds small (3--10' high); _the sterile
segment closely sessile at the top of the_ long and slender common
_stalk_, scarcely fleshy, _triangular, ternately twice pinnatifid; the
acute lobes_ lanceolate, incised or toothed; veinlets forking from a
_continuous midvein_; fertile part 2--3-pinnate.--N. Eng. and N. J. to
Ohio and Lake Superior. July--Aug. (Eu.)
4. B. matricariaefolium, Braun. Fronds small (3--10' high); _the sterile
segment nearly sessile at the top of the_ long and slender _common
stalk_, moderately fleshy, _ovate or triangular_, varying from pinnate
to bipinnatifid; _the lobes oblong-ovate and obtuse; midvein dissipated_
into forking veinlets; fertile part 2--3-pinnate.--Same range as the
last. June, July. (Eu.)
[*][*] _Sterile portion of the frond long-stalked; the common stalk
short in proportion to the size of the plant. Plants usually larger._
5. B. ternatum, Swartz. (Pl. 20.) _Plant very fleshy_ (4--16' high),
sparsely hairy; _sterile segment long-petioled_ from near the base of
the plant, broadly triangular, _ternate and variously decompound with
stalked divisions_; ultimate segments varying from roundish-reniform and
sub-entire to ovate-lanceolate and doubly incised; fertile segment
erect, 2--4-pinnate.--The following varieties pass into each
other:--Var. AUSTRALE; frond ample; ultimate segments rhomboid-ovate
with a denticulate margin.--Var. INTERMEDIUM; frond of moderate size;
ultimate segments as in var. australe. (B. lunarioides, of last
ed.)--Var. RUTAEFOLIUM; frond small; ultimate segments few, ovate and
semicordate.--Var. LUNARIOIDES; frond small; ultimate segments
roundish-reniform.--Var. OBLIQUUM; frond moderate; ultimate segments
obliquely lanceolate, denticulate or toothed.--Var. DISSECTUM; segments
dissected into innumerable narrow lobes or teeth.--Pastures and
hillsides, sometimes in dry woods, rather common, especially vars.
intermedium and obliquum.--Var. rutaefolium occurs in Europe.
Sec. 2. OSMUNDOPTERIS. _Base of the stalk containing the bud open along one
side; sterile segment membranaceous; the cells of the epidermis
flexuous._
6. B. Virginianum, Swartz. _Fronds tall and ample; sterile segment
sessile above the middle of the plant_, broadly triangular, thin and
membranaceous, _ternate_; the short-stalked _primary divisions once or
twice pinnate_, and then once or twice pinnatifid; the oblong lobes
cut-toothed toward the apex; _veins forking from a midvein_; fertile
part 2--3-pinnate.--Rich woods; common.--Plant 1--2 deg. high, or often
reduced to a few inches, in which case it is B. gracile, _Pursh._ June,
July. (Eu.)
2. OPHIOGLOSSUM, L. ADDER'S-TONGUE. (Pl. 20.)
Rootstock erect, fleshy and sometimes tuberous, with slender fleshy
roots which are sometimes proliferous; bud placed by the side of the
base of the stalk; fronds with anterior and posterior segments as in
Botrychium, but the coriaceous sporangia connate and coherent in two
ranks on the edges of a simple spike. Sterile segment fleshy, simple in
our species; the veins reticulated. Spores copious, sulphur-yellow.
(Name from [Greek: o)/phis], _a serpent_, and [Greek: glo~ssa],
_tongue_.)
1. O. vulgatum, L. Fronds from a slender rootstock (2--12' high), mostly
solitary; sterile segment sessile near the middle of the plant, ovate or
elliptical (1--3' long); midvein indistinct or none; veins forming small
meshes enclosed in larger ones.--Bogs and pastures; not common. July.
(Eu.)
ORDER 133. LYCOPODIACEAE. (CLUB-MOSS FAMILY.)
Low plants, usually of moss-like aspect, with elongated and often much
branched stems covered with small lanceolate or subulate, rarely oblong
or rounded, persistent entire leaves; the sporangia 1--3-celled,
solitary in the axils of the leaves, or on their upper surface, when
ripe opening into two or three valves, and shedding the numerous yellow
spores, which are all of one kind.--The Order, as here defined, consists
mainly of the large genus
1. LYCOPODIUM, L. CLUB-MOSS. (Pl. 21.)
Spore-cases coriaceous, flattened, usually kidney-shaped, 1-celled,
2-valved, mostly by a transverse line round the margin, discharging the
subtile spores in the form of a copious sulphur-colored inflammable
powder.--Perennials, with evergreen one-nerved leaves, imbricated or
crowded in 4--16 ranks. (Name compounded of [Greek: ly/kos], _a wolf_,
and [Greek: pou~s], _foot_, from no obvious resemblance.)
Sec. 1. _Spore-cases in the axils of the ordinary (dark green and shining,
rigid, lanceolate, about 8-ranked) leaves._
1. L. Selago, L. Stems erect and rigid, dichotomous, forming a
level-topped cluster (3--6' high); _leaves uniform_, crowded, ascending,
glossy, pointed, entire or denticulate; sporangia in the axils of
unaltered leaves.--Mountain-tops, Maine to Lake Superior, and
northward.--The leaves of this and the next species often bear little
gemmae, with the lower bracts pointed, and the 2--3 uppermost broadly
obovate and fleshy, as figured in 1768 by Dillenius. These gemmae fall to
the ground and their axis grows into the stem of a new plant, as
specimens collected in 1854 show very plainly. (For their true nature
see Sachs' Lehrbuch, Engl. trans., p. 411.)
2. L. lucidulum, Michx. Stems assurgent, less rigid, dichotomous (6--12'
long); leaves pointed, toothed, at first spreading, then deflexed,
arranged, in alternate zones of shorter and longer leaves, the shorter
leaves more frequently bearing sporangia in their axils; proliferous
gemmae usually abundant.--Cold, damp woods; common northward. Aug.
Sec. 2. _Spore-cases only in the axils of the upper (bracteal) leaves, thus
forming a spike._
[*] _Leaves of the creeping sterile and of the upright fertile stems or
branches and those of the simple spike nearly alike, many-ranked._
3. L. inundatum, L. _Dwarf_; creeping sterile stems forking, flaccid;
the fertile solitary (1--4' high), bearing a short thick spike; _leaves
lanceolate or lance-awl-shaped, acute_, soft, spreading, _mostly
entire_, those of the prostrate stems curving upward.--Var. BIGELOVII,
Tuckerm., has fertile stems 5--7' high, its leaves more awl-shaped and
pointed, sparser and more upright, often somewhat teeth-bearing.--Sandy
bogs, northward, not common; the var., eastern New Eng. to N. J., and
southward. Aug. (Eu.)
4. L. alopecuroides, L. _Stems stout_, very densely leafy throughout;
the sterile branches recurved-procumbent and creeping; the fertile of
the same thickness, 6--20' high; _leaves narrowly linear-awl-shaped,
spinulose-pointed, spreading, conspicuously bristle-toothed below the
middle; those of the cylindrical spike with long setaceous
tips_.--Pine-barren swamps, N. J. to Va., and southward. Aug.,
Sept.--Stems, including the dense leaves, 1/2' thick; the comose spike,
with its longer spreading leaves, 3/4--1' thick.
[*][*] _Leaves (bracts) of the catkin-like spike scale-like, imbricated,
yellowish, ovate or heart-shaped, very different from those of the
sterile stems and branches._
[+] _Spikes sessile (i.e. branches equally leafy to the top), single._
5. L. annotinum, L. Much branched; _stems prostrate and creeping_ (1--4 deg.
long); _the ascending branches similar_ (5--8' high), sparingly forked,
the sterile ones making yearly growths from the summit; _leaves equal,
spreading_, in about 5 ranks, rigid, lanceolate, pointed, minutely
serrulate (pale green); spike solitary, oblong-cylindrical, thick.--Var.
PUNGENS, Spring, is a reduced sub-alpine or mountain form, with shorter
and more rigid pointed erectish leaves.--Woods; common northward; the
var. on the White Mountains, with intermediate forms around the base.
July. (Eu.)
6. L. obscurum, L. Rootstock cord-like, subterranean, bearing scattered,
erect, tree-like stems dividing at the summit into several densely
dichotomous spreading branches; leaves linear-lanceolate, decurrent,
entire, acute, 6-ranked, those of the two upper and two lower ranks
smaller and appressed, the lateral ones incurved spreading; spikes
1--10, erect, mostly sessile; bracts scarious-margined, broadly ovate,
abruptly apiculate.--Var. DENDROIDEUM (L. deudroideum, _Michx._) has all
the leaves alike and incurved spreading.--Moist woods. Aug.--Remarkable
for its tree-like appearance.
L. ALPINUM, L., or its var. SABINAEFOLIUM, occurs from Labrador to
Washington Territory, and is to be expected in northern Maine and Minn.
It has slender branches with rigid nearly appressed leaves.
[+][+] _Spikes peduncled, i.e. the leaves minute on the fertile
branches._
[++] _Leaves homogeneous and equal, many-ranked; stems terete._
7. L. clavatum, L. (COMMON CLUB-MOSS.) Stems creeping extensively, with
similar ascending short and very leafy branches; the fertile terminated
by a slender peduncle (4--6' long), bearing about 2--3 (rarely 1 or 4)
linear-cylindrical spikes; leaves linear-awl-shaped, incurved spreading
(light green), tipped, as also the bracts, with a fine bristle.--Dry
woods; common, especially northward. July. (Eu.)
[++][++] _Leaves of two forms, few-ranked; stems or branches flattened._
8. L. Carolinianum, L. (Pl. 21.) Sterile stems and their few short
branches _entirely creeping_ (leafless and rooting on the under side),
thickly clothed with broadly lanceolate acute and somewhat oblique
1-nerved _lateral leaves widely spreading in 2 ranks_, and a shorter
intermediate row appressed on the upper side; also sending up a slender
simple peduncle (2--4' high, clothed merely with small bract-like and
appressed awl-shaped leaves), _bearing a single cylindrical spike_.--Wet
pine-barrens, N. J. to Va., and southward.
9. L. complanatum, L. (GROUND-PINE.) Stems extensively creeping (often
subterranean), the erect or _ascending branches several times forked
above_; bushy _branchlets crowded, flattened_, fan-like and spreading,
_all clothed with minute imbricated-appressed awl-shaped leaves in 4
ranks_, with decurrent-united bases, the lateral rows with somewhat
spreading tooth-like tips, those of the upper and under rows smaller,
narrower, wholly appressed; peduncle slender, _bearing 2--4 cylindrical
spikes_.--Var. CHAMAECYPARISSUS has narrower, more erect and bushy
branches, and the leaves less distinctly dimorphous.--Woods and
thickets; common, especially northward. (Eu.)
ORDER 134. SELAGINELLACEAE.
Leafy plants, terrestrial or rooted in mud, never very large; the stems
branching or short and corm-like; the leaves small and 4--6-rowed, or
subulate and elongated; sporangia one-celled, solitary, axillary or
borne on the upper surface of the leaf at its base and enwrapped in its
margins, some containing large spores (_macrospores_) and others small
spores (_microspores_). The macrospores are in the shape of a low
triangular pyramid with a hemispherical base, and marked with elevated
ribs along the angles. In germination they develop a minute prothallus
which bears archegonia to be fertilized by antherozoids developed from
the microspores.
1. Selaginella. Terrestrial; stems slender; leaves small; sporangia
minute and axillary.
2. Isoetes. Aquatic or growing in mud; stems corm-like: leaves elongated
and rush-like; sporangia very large, enwrapped by the dilated bases of
the leaves.
1. SELAGINELLA, Beauv. (Pl. 21.)
Fructification of two kinds, namely, of minute and oblong or globular
spore-cases, containing reddish or orange-colored powdery microspores;
and of mostly 2-valved tumid larger ones, filled by 3 or 4 (rarely 1--6)
much larger globose-angular macrospores; the former usually in the upper
and the latter in the lower axils of the leafy 4-ranked sessile spike,
but sometimes the two kinds are on opposite sides all along the spike.
(Name a diminutive of _Selago_ an ancient name of a Lycopodium, from
which this genus is separated, and which the plants greatly resemble in
habit and foliage.)
[*] _Leaves all alike and uniformly imbricated; those of the spike
similar._
1. S. spinosa, Beauv. _Sterile stems prostrate_ or creeping, small and
slender; _the fertile thicker, ascending, simple_ (1--3' high); _leaves
lanceolate, acute, spreading, sparsely spinulose-ciliate_. (S.
selaginoides, _Link._)--Wet places, N. H. (_Pursh_), Mich., Lake
Superior, Colorado, and northward; rare.--Leaves larger on the fertile
stems, yellowish-green. (Eu.)
2. S. rupestris, Spring. (Pl. 21, fig. 1--4.) _Much branched in close
tufts_ (1--3' high); _leaves densely appressed-imbricated,
linear-lanceolate_, convex and with a grooved keel, _minutely ciliate,
bristle-tipped_; those of the strongly quadrangular spike rather
broader.--Dry and exposed rocks; very common.--Grayish-green in aspect,
resembling a rigid Moss. Very variable farther west and south. (Eu.)
[*][*] _Leaves shorter above and below, stipule-like; the lateral
larger, 2-ranked._
3. S. apus, Spring. Stems tufted and prostrate, creeping, much branched,
flaccid; leaves pellucid-membranaceous, the larger spreading
horizontally, ovate, oblique, mostly obtuse, the smaller appressed,
taper-pointed; those of the short spikes nearly similar; larger spore
cases copious at the lower part of the spike.--Low, shady places; not
rare, especially southward.--A delicate little plant, resembling a Moss
or Jungermannia.
2. ISOETES, L. QUILLWORT. (Pl. 21.)
Stem or trunk a fleshy more or less depressed corm, rooting just above
its 2-lobed (or in many foreign species 3-lobed) base, above covered
with the dilated and imbricated bases of the awl-shaped or linear
somewhat quadrangular leaves, which include four air-tubes, intercepted
by cross partitions. Sporangia pretty large, orbicular or ovoid,
plano-convex, very thin, sessile in the axils of the leaves, and united
at the back with their excavated bases (the thin edges of the excavation
folding round partly cover them, forming the _velum_), traversed
internally by transverse threads; those of the outer leaves filled with
large spherical macrospores, their whitish crustaceous integument marked
by one circular, and on the upper surface by three radiating elevated
lines (circumscribing a lower hemisphere, and three upper segments which
open valve-like in germination); those of the inner leaves filled with
very minute and powdery grayish microspores; these are always obliquely
oblong and triangular.--Mostly small aquatics, grass-like or rush-like
in aspect, some always submerged, others amphibious, a few living in
merely moist soil, maturing their fruit in late summer and early autumn,
except n. 7 and some forms of n. 6.
This genus is left essentially as it was elaborated for the 5th edition
by the late Dr. GEORGE ENGELMANN. The present editor has added to the
range of a few species, and given var. robusta of n. 3.
[*] _Growing under water, only accidentally or in very dry seasons out
of water; leaves without stomata (except in forms of n. 3) and
peripherical bast-bundles._
1. I. lacustris, L. (Pl. 21, fig. 1--5.) Leaves (10--25 in number, 2--6'
long) dark green, rigid; sporangium ovoid or circular, the upper third,
or less, covered by the velum, the free part pale and unspotted; both
kinds of spores the largest of our species; macrospores (0.32--0.38''
wide) covered with short and twisted crested ridges, which often
anastomose; microspores (0.017--0.020'' long) smooth.--Mountain lakes,
Penn., N. Y., and New Eng. to Lake Superior, and northward, often with
n. 3. (Eu.)
2. I. Tuckermani, Braun. Leaves (10--30, 2--3' long) very slender, awl
shaped, olive-green, the outer recurved; sporangium ovoid or circular,
the upper third covered by the velum, the free part sometimes
brownish-spotted; macrospores (0.22--0.28'' wide) on the upper segments
covered with parallel and anastomosing ridges, the lower half
reticulated; microspores (0.013--0.015'' long) smooth or very delicately
papillose.--Mystic and other ponds near Boston, together with the next
(_Tuckerman, W. Boott_).
3. I. echinospora, Durieu. Leaves slender, awl-shaped; sporangium ovoid
or circular; macrospores (0.20--0.25'' wide) beset all over with small
entire and obtuse or slightly forked spinules. (Eu.)--In this European
form, the leaves are very slenderly attenuated (3--4' long), the upper
margin of the sporangium only is covered with the narrow velum, the free
part is unspotted, and the slightly papillose microspores are larger
(0.015--0.016'' long).
Var. Braunii, Engelm. Leaves (15--30 in number, 3--6' long) dark and
often olive-green, straight or commonly recurved, half or two thirds of
the sporangium covered by the velum, the free part often with light
brown spots; macrospores as in the type; microspores smaller
(0.013--0.014'' long), smooth. (I. Braunii, _Durieu._)--Ponds and
lakes, New Eng. to N. Y., Penn., Mich., and northward, often with the
two preceding.--Frequently with a few stomata, especially in Niagara
specimens.
Var. robusta, Engelm. Stouter; leaves (25--70, 5--8' long) with abundant
stomata all over their surface; velum covering about one half of the
large spotted sporangium; macrospores 0.18--0.27'' wide.--Lake
Champlain, north end of Isle La Motte (_Pringle_).
Var. muricata, Engelm. Leaves (15--30, 6--10' long) straight or flaccid,
bright green; about one half of the almost circular sporangium covered
by the velum, unspotted; macrospores (0.22--0.27'' wide) with shorter
and blunter spinules; microspores as in the last variety, or rarely
spinulose. (I. muricata, _Durieu._)--In some ponds north of Boston (_W.
Boott_).
Var. Boottii, Engelm. Leaves (12--20, 4--5' high) awl shaped, stiffly
erect, bright green, with stomata; sporangium as in the last;
macrospores as in the type, but a little smaller and with very slender
spinules. (I. Boottii, _Braun_, in litt.)--Pond in Woburn, near Boston,
partly out of water (_W. Boott_).
[*][*] _Growing partly out of water, either by the pond drying up or by
the receding of the ebb tide; leaves with stomata, and in n. 6 and 7
with four or more peripherical bast-bundles._
4. I. saccharata, Engelm. Leaves (10--15, 2--3' long) slender,
olive-green, curved; sporangium small, ovoid, only the upper edge
covered by the velum, nearly unspotted; macrospores (0.20--0.22'' wide)
minutely tuberculate; microspores (0.012'' long) papillose.--On Wicomico
and Nanticoke Rivers, eastern shore of Maryland, between high and low
tide (_Canby_).
5. I. riparia, Engelm. Leaves (15--30, 4--8' long) slender, deep green,
erect; sporangium mostly oblong, upper margin to one third covered by
the velum, the free part spotted; macrospores very variable in size
(0.22--0.30'' wide), the upper segments covered by short crested ridges,
which on the lower hemisphere run together forming a network;
microspores larger than in any other species except n. 1 (0.013--0.016''
long), mostly somewhat tuberculated.--Gravelly banks of the Delaware,
from above Philadelphia to Wilmington, between flood and ebb tide;
margins of ponds, Lake Saltonstall, Conn. (_Setchell_), and
northward.--Distinguished from the nearly allied I. lacustris by the
stomata of the leaves, the spotted sporangium, the smaller size of the
macrospores and their reticulation on the lower half.