lycopodium

[Gr. lykos =a wolf, and pous (gen it. podos )=a foot.] Bot . Club mo . The typical genus of the order Lycopodiaceae (q. v.). It consists of perennial plants, with erect, prostrate, or creeping stems, small leaves, and reniform or one-celled, two-valved capsules. About fifty are known. They can be used externally as counter irritants. L. carthar ticum (1) or rubrum , a South American plant, is violently purgative. It has been used in elephantiasis. L. phlegm aria and L. squamatum are aphrodisiac. It is said that woolen clothes boiled with it become blue if afterward treated with Brazil wood.