. Sharp eyes; a rambler's calendar of fifty-two weeks among insects, birds and flowers . is preferable. But there is much of interest to be found in this yel-low powder which is not generally known. Nor needwe visit the druggists to get our sample for , then, is this drug, lycopodium ? Our botany willenlighten us: Lycopodium, a cryptogamous plant, com-monly known as club-moss, a low evergreen some-what resembling a moss, its stems clothed with shortpointed scaly leaves, the fruiting stems discharging theirsubtle spores in the form of a copious sulphur-coloredinflammable powder.
. Sharp eyes; a rambler's calendar of fifty-two weeks among insects, birds and flowers . is preferable. But there is much of interest to be found in this yel-low powder which is not generally known. Nor needwe visit the druggists to get our sample for , then, is this drug, lycopodium ? Our botany willenlighten us: Lycopodium, a cryptogamous plant, com-monly known as club-moss, a low evergreen some-what resembling a moss, its stems clothed with shortpointed scaly leaves, the fruiting stems discharging theirsubtle spores in the form of a copious sulphur-coloredinflammable powder. So, in substance, says Dr. Gray, and though the com-bustible nature of this yellow cloud is published to theworld in nearly all our botanies, it is a singular fact thatcomparatively few of those who know the plant in all itsmany varieties, who perhaps have named it with itsLatin tag, and who have pressed it and mounted it intheir herbarium, have known its singular explosive prop-erties and the fiery tricks it is capable of people everywhere, even though innocent of. botany, will certainlyrecall the well-knownground-pine, whichcarpets the winterwoods in its fan-shaped green foliage,and which is such afavorite for Christmas wreaths and decoration in is the most familiar form of the lycopodium (), but there are others equally common inour woods, some assuming the form of miniature branch-ing pine- trees, or trees resembling closely tufted mosses,but all, at one season or another, lifting their catkin-likefruiting spore fronds, and shedding in the breeze theirsmoky yellow clouds. Certain of these species arc nowfruiting in the woods, and we have only to find them toobtain our generous supply of this same yellow powderof the pharmacy. Where the plant grows abundantly these spore stemsrise in profusion among the leaves, and as we walkthrough them our shoes and nether garments are soon o o covered with the yellow dust. With a little care e
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booky
