Selaginella Lepidophylla

This species of club moss is found in southern California, and has remarkable hygrometric qualities. Its natural growth is in circular roseate form, and fully expanded when the air is moist, but rolling up like a ball when it becomes dry. It remains green



and acts in this peculiar manner for a long time after being gathered. Of late years numbers have been distributed throughout the country under the names of "Rose of Jericho" and "Resurrection Plant." This is, however, quite distinct from the true Rose of Jericho, _Anastatica hierochuntica_, a native of the Mediterranean region, from Syria to Algeria. This plant, when growing and in flower, has branches spread rigidly, but when the seed ripens the leaves wither, and the whole plant becomes dry, each little branch curling inward until the plant appears like a small ball; it soon becomes loosened from the soil, and is carried by the winds over the dry plains, and is often blown into the sea, where it at once expands. It retains this property of expanding when moistened for at least ten years.

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