(E. Bot. 2270-Musc. Brit. xxx. E.)-Hedw. Stirp. iii. 7—Dill. 51. 72— Vaill. 24. 2 and 2-H. Ox. xv. 6, row 5. 20. Capsule, the neck downwards becomes gradually narrower. Dicks. Stems simple or branched: branches sometimes very slender, at others thicker and shorter; thickest where the fruit-stalks put forth, the leaves there expanding in the form of stars. Fruit-stalks near two inches long, purple. Capsules bent downwards, tumid, green. Lid small, shining, white. Veil short, brown, red. Dill. (Messrs. Hooker and Taylor state," It must be allowed that the differences between this Moss and B (Mnium) cœspiticium are almost insufficient, and that it is more distinguishable by its larger size, proliferous habit, and brown or purple hue, than by any more essential characters." Musc. Brit. The same authors likewise reduce to the present species, Bryum bymum, Schreb. E. Bot. 1518: and B. cubitale, Dicks. E. Bot. 2554. E.) (VENTRICOSE BOG FRINGE-MOSS. Bryum ventricosum. Dicks. Gmel. Turn. Sm. Hook. Bryum triquetrum. Huds. M. triquetrum according to Lightf. 715. Huds. and Relh. n. '786, but in the specimens of M. triquetrum in the Linnæan Herbarium and Ehrhart's phytophyllacium_the capsules are upright, slanting. Dicks. (Vid. E. Bot. 2394. E.) Turf bogs and marshy places. Turf pits, Ellingham Fens, Norfolk. Mr. Stone. On mud or gravel by the sides of rivulets and springs, in the ascent of Snowdon and Glyder. Mr. Griffith. (On the sandy brink of the river at Mavis Bank, near Edinburgh. E. Bot. E.) March-May. Var. 2. Larger in all its parts. Dill. 51. 73-(Fl. Dan. 1122. 1. E.) Leaves spear-shaped, alternate. Fruit-stalks red, sometimes branched. Leaves pellucid, green, shining. When about to flower it sends forth some reddish shoots, with finer leaves encompassed by others of a paler green. Flowers in the summer. Dill. Leaves almost hair-pointed. Bryum triquetrum ß. Huds. 490. B. ventricosum ß. With. Ed. ii. In marshy places. The red kind is found in the mountain torrents of Snowdon, and the green in high boggy heaths about London and Oxford. Dillenius. Near Celin House, two miles from Holywell. Mr. Griffith. BRY'UM. Fruit-stalk terminal, issuing out of a tubercle: Capsule with a veil. Barr. Fl. a bud either on the same or on a different plant, often axillary. SUBDIVISIONS OF THE BRYA. A. Capsules sessile, or nearly so, B. Capsules on fruit-stalks, upright. 1. Stemless. 2. Stem very short, rarely branched. 3. Stems trailing. 4. Stems upright. (From Bouw, germino, pullulo, to sprout or shoot up: probably alluding to the perpetual viridescence of these plants. It was first used as a generic name by Dillenius, and afterwards adopted by Linnæus. E.) a. Capsules roundish. b. Capsules egg-shaped. C. Capsules on fruit-stalks, leaning. 1. Stem none, or very short and unbranched. D. Capsules on fruit-stalks, drooping. 1. Stem none, or very short and unbranched. A. Capsules sessile, or nearly so. B. APOCAR PUM. Capsules sessile, terminal: beak bent: veil very small. (E. Bot. 1134-Musc. Brit. xiii.-Schmid. 57. 1. E.)-Vaill. 27. 15— Hedw. Stirp. i. 39—Dill. 32. 4—Fl. Dan. 480-Happ. iii. 2. Shoots one to two inches high; somewhat branched. Leaves at the ends of the shoots and branches, paler, longer, hairy at the end; from amongst these rise up fruit-stalks, very short, purple, with a yellow tubercle. Capsules oblong, smooth, green, changing to yellow. Mouth purple, open, elegantly fringed. Lid scarlet. Veil pale yellow, deciduous. The fruit-stalks are so enveloped by the leaves at the extremity of the shoots, that neither they nor the capsules can be distinctly seen, but the scarlet lid strikes the eye. Weis. (Fringe of sixteen red, entire, spreading teeth, broad at the base, tapering to a fine point. E. Bot. According to the authors of Musc. Brit. the differences which have distinguished the several species here united arise merely from local circumstances. E.) (SESSILE BEARDED THREAD-MOSS. E.) Grimmia apocarpa. Hedw. Turn. Sm. Hook. G. alpicola. Sw. Hedw. Sm. G. rivularis. Brid. Sm. Turn. G. apocaula. Hoffm. Dill. E.) Rocks, stones, and trees. Walls and roofs of houses. Nov.-April. Var. 2. Shoots longer and more branched, leafits ending in hairs. Hedw. Stirp. i. 40—Dill. 32. 5, B dry, A moistened—Vaill. 27. 18. In spreading tufts like the preceding, but the stems are longer, more branched, more leafy. Leaves broader, terminal hairs longer; dilute green in winter, hoary in spring. The ends of the branches often hooked, which never happens in the preceding variety. Capsules inclosed in leafy scales, green; the young ones at the ends, the old ones at the sides of the branches. Dill. Hedwigia ciliata. Hedw. Rocks and trees. B. SESSILE. Capsules sessile: beak straight: leaves straight, keeled. Dill. 55. 10—(E. Bot. 1325. E.) Grows in tufts. Stem about an inch high, somewhat branched. Leaves numerous, straight, keeled, pellucid when wet, opake and darker green when dry. Fruit-stalks very short, thick at the bottom. Veil brown, hairy, striated. Dill. (STRAIGHT-LEAVED THREAD MOSs. E.) B. striatum var. y. With. Ed. ii. Rocks near Bangor. Dillenius. On stones on the side of rivers which are washed by the water in high floods. Mr. Griffith. (Mr. Sowerby gathered it on upright posts by the Thames at Wandsworth. E. Bot. E.) Autumn. B. TECTO'RUM. Capsules sessile axillary: veils hairy, conical. Plant smaller than B. striatum, leaves smaller, darker green: veil paler and April. E.) B. STRIATUM. Capsules oblong, sessile, axillary or terminal: veil hairy leaves spear-shaped, acute. (E. Bot. 2187-Musc. Brit. xxi. E.)-Hedw. Stirp. ii. 36-Neck. Meth. 1. 2, at p. 273, a capsule magnified.-Dill. 55. 8-Fl. Dan. 537. 3-Vaill. 25. 5 and 6. Obs. Nearly allied to the Polytricha, but wanting the fleshy receptacle below the capsule. Linn. Shoots one inch high, branched. Capsules lateral. Mouth nearly smooth, without a ring. Neck. Branched; two or three inches high. Leaves as if gnawed at the ends. Florets of both sorts on the same or on distinct plants. Fruit-stalk very short, sheathed at the base. Capsules eggshaped. Lid small, beak blunt. Fringe double, sixteen teeth in each. Found both in flower and in fruit almost all the year. Hedw. (COMMON THREAD-MOSS. B. striatum a. Linn. E.) Polytrichum striatum. Huds. Orthotrichum striatum. Hedw. (very nearly allied to which is O. speciosum. Musc. Brit. Sup. iv. E.) In woods, on the trunks of old trees. The veils appear in winter, and the capsules in Feb. March, and April. Dill. P. B. Capsules on fruit-stalks, upright. (1) Stemless. B. CUNEIFOLIUM. Capsules cylindrical, toothed: leaves wedge-egshaped, pellucid, reticulated. Dicks. (E. Bot. 1510—Musc. Brit. xii. E.)—Dill. 45. 15—Buxb. i. 64. Leaves shorter, broader, and softer than in B. murale, pellucid, green, not hoary with hairs. Grows much crowded with hairs, but not in a circular form. Dill. (WEDGE-LEAFED THREAD-MOSS. B. cuneifolium. Dicks. Sm. Hook. Tortula cuneifolia. Turn. B. murale ß. Huds. and With. Ed. ii. On banks of earth near Streatham, Surry, and at Oxford. Dillenius. (Particularly common in Devonshire, especially near Torquay and the hilly country about Tor-point. Musc. Brit. E.) Winter. B. MURA'LE. Capsules oblong: lids conical, acute: shoots very short, subdivided: leaves mid-ribbed, egg-shaped, acute, hair-pointed. (E. Bot. 2033-Musc. Brit. xii. E.)—Dill. 45. 14—Vaill. 24. 15, in a tuft -Buxb. i. 64. 4-Mich. 59. 7. Sometimes grows in tufts, but often spreads in shady places. Leaves opake, approaching, rigid, fine green when wet, dull green when dry. Dill. (The lower leaves generally lose their terminal hairs. When the lid is carefully removed from the capsule, the mouth of the latter is seen adorned with a conical pencil of rich saffron-coloured hairs twisted spirally, and projecting so as to fill up the lid. E.) (WALL THREAD-MOSS. Tortula muralis. Hedw. Sm. Hook. E.) Walls, roofs, tiles, stones, rocks and sandy places, everywhere. P. Nov.-March. B. OBTU'SUM. Capsules inversely egg-shaped, lopped: lid convex: leaves spear-egg-shaped, taper-pointed. Dicks. (E. Bot. 1407. E.)-Dicks. 4. 7. a. b. Fringe none. Veil bell-awl-shaped. Leaves, under the microscope, reticulated, finely toothed. Differs from B. truncatulum in the beaked lid, and its capsule being longer, &c. Dicks. (OBTUSE THREAD-MOSS. B. obtusum. Dicks. Gymnostomum obtusum, Hedw. Turn. Sm. with which is assimilated in Musc. Brit. (vii.) G. Heimii. Hedw. Sm. Hook. E.) Stones and rocks on Ben Crechan, Scotland. (Common about Yarmouth. Mr. Turner. E.) B. OVA'TUM. Capsules egg-shaped leaves egg-shaped, concave, hairpointed. Dicks. ii. 4. Dicks. H. S.—Hedw. Stirp. i. 6—(E. Bot. 1889-Musc. Brit. vii. E.)—H. Ox. xv. 7. 18. Very minute, unbranched, with scarcely any stem. Flowers terminal. Fruit-stalk upright, not longer than the capsule. Veil reddish brown. Lid conical, beak oblique. Very common on mud walls, spreading in broad and dense patches; seldom on the ground. (Some authors discriminate var. a. vulgare; capsule ovate; and ß. gracile; capsule oblong. This species is remarkable for the nerve of the leaf being furnished with a large, oblong, membranous appendage, to the surface of which are attached minute greenish bodies, probably gemmæ, as represented by Hedwig. Musc. Brit. E.) (HAIR-POINTED THREAD-MOSS. E.) Gymnostomum ovatum. Hedw. (Sm. Hook. E.) Pastures. Mud walls. April-May. B. PUSILLUM. Capsules oblong, fringed: leaves concave, egg-awlshaped. Dicks. ii. 6. Hedw. Stirp. i. 28—(E. Bot. 2380. E.) Stem unbranched, upright, very minute, not more than two or three lines high. Leaves concave and egg-shaped at the base, but very long and slender upwards. Barren flowers in the bosom of the leaves. Fruitstalks on the same plant terminal, thrice as long as the stem, nearly upright. Fringe single, of sixteen teeth, deeply divided, red. (DWARF THREAD-MOSS. E.) Trichostomum pusillum. Hedw. In sandy places. A. Feb.-March. B. PYRIFOR ME. Capsules pear-shaped: leaves flat, oblong, acute. Dicks. H. S.-(E. Bot. 413. E.)—Dill. 44. 6—Fl. Dan. 537. 1-Vaill. 29. 3-H. Ox. xv. 7, row 2. 16, p. 631—Buxb. i. 64. 1. Fruit-stalks half to one inch long. Relh. n. 1015. Leaves one line broad, one and a half long. Involucrum none. Fruit-stalk about three lines long. Capsule, mouth without fringe. Pol. Veil, before the capsules swells, four-sided; afterwards it tears into two, three, or four segments. Leaves tender, pellucid, pale green. Capsules large for the size of the plant, which rises but little above the ground. Dill. (PEAR-SHAPED THREAD-MOSS. E.) Heaths, hedges and ditch banks. A. Feb. B. STELLA'TUM. Capsules pointed, bearded: leaves egg-spear-shaped, pointed, somewhat rolled in. Dicks. ii. 6. (E. Bot. 2384-Musc. Brit. xii. E.)—Dill. 49. 56. (Stems very short, tufted; leaves oblongo-ovate, or ovate, rather concave, sub-opaque, mucronulate, furnished with a strong brown nerve. Musc. Brit. and according to the learned authors of that work, this appears to be Barbula agraria of Hedwig, a tropical plant, and a rare instance of such having been found in so northern a region; unless indeed Mr. Dickson should, by some accident, have mistaken a foreign specimen for one gathered in Scotland. E.) (STELLATED THREAD-MOSS. Tortula stellata. Sm. Hook. E.) On ditch banks and margins of rivulets, Scotland. B. CALCA'REUM. Capsules inversely conical, toothed: leaves upi ght cylindrical, bluntish. Dicks. Dicks. H.S.-E. Bot. 191-(Musc. Brit. xv. E.)-Dicks. 4. 3. A dwarfish plant, smaller than B. paludosum, but the capsules sufficiently large and conspicuous. Lid conical, with a beak somewhat slanting. Veil slender, slanting. Dicks. Capsules with sixteen teeth; not with twelve as in Dickson's figure. (LIMESTONE THREAD-MOSS. Weissia calcarea. Hedw. Hook. Grimmia calcarea. Sm. Turn. E.) On limestone rocks near Newmarket Heath. (On shady rocks at Garregwen near Garn, Denbighshire. Mr. Griffith. E.) B. CERVICULA'TUM. Capsules egg-shaped, unequal, toothed: leaves very slender. Hedw. Stirp. iii. 37. A.—(E. Bot. 1661-Musc. Brit. xvi. E.) Not branched; upright. Lower leaves very minute, spear-shaped; upper oblong-spear-shaped, concave, with a very long tapering point, expanding when moist, closing but not curling when dry; pale green. Capsules egg-shaped but less convex on one side, which gives it an appearance of leaning. Lid fine red, slanting, taper-pointed. |