The following closely allied species have not been found in Britain, viz.: P. tenerum of Bruch and Schimper; leaves ovate-lanceolate, wider, scarcely toothed at the apex; capsule yellowish; calyptra conical;spores smaller. P. spinulosum Br. and Sch., from N. America ; P. cristatum Hook. and Wils., from Swan River: both of these have the leaves spinulose or crested at the back. 2. Phascum cohærens Hedw. (clustered Earth-Moss); stemless; leaves ovate-lanceolate, erect, carinate, nerved to the apex; capsule immersed, subsessile. (TAB. XXXVII.) P. cohærens Hedw. Sp. M. t. 1. (figure of leaf incorrect). 6. t. 1. Ephemerum cohærens C. Müll. Syn. Musc. Bryol. Eur. Hab. On the ground. Hurst-Pierpoint, Sussex. Sept. 1847. Distinguished from P. serratum by the nerve, which is not unfrequently absent or incomplete, and by the paler colour of the capsule. It is a rather doubtful species. The leaves in American specimens are sometimes ovate-oblong, with recurved points, in which state it may be mistaken for a broad-leaved variety of P. recurvifolium. P. cohærens varies thus: car. B. Flotowianum Funk, leaves narrower, with short nerve; - -var. 7. Lucasianum Nees and Hornsch., leaves larger, broader; nerve ceasing below the apex. A section of the leaf, highly magnified, is shown at fig. s.l. Fig. 1. shows the natural size; fig. 2., the plants magnified; fig. 3., leaves, capsules, &c.; fig. 4., leaves more highly magnified. 3. Phascum sessile Br. and Sch. (sessile-fruited EarthMoss); stem scarcely any; leaves lanceolate-subulate, rigid, denticulate, nerve excurrent; capsule sessile, immersed, small, roundish. (TAB. XXXVII.) P. sessile Br. and Schimper, Bryol. Eur. fasc. 1. P. crassinervium Br. and Sch. Bryol. Eur. fasc. 1. p. 7. t. 2.; perhaps also of Schwaegr. Suppl. I. 1. t. 2. Nees and Hornsch. Bryol. Germ. t. 4. f. 2, 3. Bridel. Ephemerum sessile Bryol. Eur. fasc. 42. t. 2. var. B. stenophyllum; leaves shorter, linear-lanceolate, subserrulate. P. stenophyllum Voit. in Sturm Deutsch. Fl. Crypt. fasc. Hab. Heaths, &c., in clayey or chalky soil, rare. Henfield Plants as small as those of P. serratum, and less conspicuous. Leaves narrower, rigid, not much altered when dry, suberect; nerve pale and inconspicuous below, stronger and more defined upwards, extending beyond the laminar portion of the leaf; cellules smaller than in P. serratum. Capsule sessile, small, brown, roundish, with a small blunt point. Calyptra mitriform. Spores as in P. serratum. Inflorescence monoicous; barren fl. gemmiform, at the base of the fertile flower. The American P. crassinervium is very nearly allied to this, but has the capsule shortly pedicellate. Both are distinct from P. crassinervium of Greville (Scot. Crypt. Fl.), which, after much inquiry and doubt, we find to be really the same as P. pachycarpon of Schwaegrichen, and of Nees and Hornschuch, and identical with P. recurvi folium of Dickson, having the nerve stronger and much more evident than in the species now under consideration. A section of the leaf, magnified, is shown at fig. s.l. 4. Phascum recurvifolium Dickson (strap-leaved EarthMoss); stem scarcely any; leaves lingulate or linear-lanceolate, recurved or erect, denticulate, nerve strong and excurrent; capsule ovate, subsessile, immersed. (TAB. XXXVII.) Phascum recurvifolium Dickson, Crypt. fasc. 4. p. 1. t. Ephemerum pachycarpum Hampe. C. Müll. Syn. Musc. Hab. Heaths near Croydon, Mr. Dickson. In fallows in limestone or chalky soil. Bedford purlieus, near Wansford, Northamptonshire, Rev. M. J. Berkeley. County of Durham, Mr. Thornhill. Sussex, Mr. Mitten. Fr. Autumn, Winter. About as large as the preceding species. Leaves dark green, usually recurved, sometimes erect and straight, lower ones smaller, ovate-lanceolate, upper ones mostly oblong or lingulate, of equal breadth throughout, rarely (as described by Bruch and Schimper) linear-lanceolate, slightly concave, margin somewhat undulated, denticulate near the summit; nerve strong and well defined, usually excurrent; cellules as in the last. Vaginula oval. Calyptra dimidiate. Capsule of firm texture, its walls thick. Spores roundish, slightly granulated on the surface. Barren flowers gemmiform. An authentic specimen from Mr. Dickson (agreeing well with his description, though not with the figure) in Mr. Turner's Herbarum, enables us to determine this species; and an authentic example of P. pachycarpon, from Dr. Schwaegrichen, supplies the means of identifying that moss, the figures and descriptions of which in Schwaegr. Suppl. and in Bryol. Germ. are inaccurate. P. recurvifolium is very distinct from P. patens, with which it seems to have been confounded, in the form of the leaf, and in the strong excurrent nerve, much more conspicuous than in P. sessile, or even in the American P. crassinervium Schwaegr., which has narrower tapering leaves. b. Plants, when mature, without confervoid shoots, columella distinct. 5. Phascum muticum Schreb. (common dwarf Earth-Moss); stem scarcely any; leaves widely ovate-acuminate, very concave, nerved, connivent; capsule round, erect, subsessile, immersed. (TAB. V.) P. muticum Schreb. de Phasc. p. 8. t. 1. f. 11, 12. Hedw. Acaulon muticum C. Müller, Syn. Musc. Bryol. Europ. var B. minus, leaves entire. Hab. Moist banks and fallows, common. B. near the sea, Torquay, Devon. Fr. Autumn, Spring. Stem almost wanting. Leaves very broad, ovate or roundishelliptical, concave (not carinate as in the next), all clustered into a bulb-like mass; the two innermost (perichætial) leaves larger than the rest, erect and convolute, acuminate, minutely toothed above; nerve ceasing below the apex, rarely excurrent. Capsule reddish, its texture thick, on a short thick pedicel, erect. Columella distinct. Calyptra very small, erect, campanulate, covering only the apex of the capsule. Spores smaller than in the preceding, smooth, round. Barren flower gemmiform, at the base of the fertile flower. Antheridia without paraphyses. The var. B. is supposed by Bruch and Schimper to be P. globosum Schleicher. 6. Phascum triquetrum Spruce (triangular dwarf EarthMoss); stem scarcely any; leaves in three rows, connivent, obovato-navicular, sharply keeled, margins reflexed, apex recurved, nerve excurrent; capsule spherical, horizontal, on a long slender curved pedicel, immersed. (TAB. XXXVII.) P. triquetrum Spruce, in Eng. Bot. Suppl. t. 2901. P. muticum Mougeot and Nestler, Stirp. Crypt. Vogeso- Hab. Cliffs between Rottingdean and Newhaven, Sussex, April, About the size of the last, resembling little triangular bulbs (as shown, magnified, in fig. 2, 3, 4.), at first green, subsequently reddishbrown. Leaves about 9, three-ranked, closely imbricated and connivent, the three lowest minute, ovate, nerveless (occasionally cloven, Spruce), the three uppermost or perichætial leaves broadly obovate, apiculate, sharply keeled, boat-shaped (fig. p.l.) or cucullate, very concave near the apex, closely embracing the capsule, margins reflexed above, denticulate, the point recurved and diaphanous. Vaginula small, ovate. Pedicel very slender, suddenly bent at a right angle near its junction with the capsule (fig. c.). Spores rather large. Calyptra small, subdimidiate, covering a very small portion of the capsule, often adhering to the vaginula by one side. Barren flower gemmiform at the base of the fertile flower. P. muticum is easily distinguished from this species by the perichatial leaves, only 2 in number, erect, strongly convolute, not keeled, the margin plane, cellules smaller, pedicel much shorter and thicker. P. triquetrum differs essentially from P. Flörkeanum and its allies in the spherical capsule, and in the broad, concave, cucullate leaves. SECT. II. Barren fl. axillary, antheridia naked. Allied to Pottia. 7. Phascum Floerkeanum Web. and Mohr. (Floerke's Dwarf Earth-Moss); stem scarcely any; leaves crowded, erecto-patent, ovate-acuminate, margins reflexed, nerve excurrent; capsule roundish-ovate, with a very short pedicel, rostellate, im. mersed. (TAB. XXXVII.) P. Floerkeanum Web. and Mohr. Bot. Tasch. p. 70. Acaulon Floerkeanum C. Müller, Syn. Musc. Bryol. Eur. var. B. badium; leaves longer, narrower, capsule smaller, ovate. P. badium Nees and Hornsch. 1. c. t. 5. f. 11. Hab. Fields, &c., in clayey or chalky soil. Coast of Durham, Plants very minute, about in. in height, sometimes more, growing in scattered patches, colour brownish and scarcely different from that of the soil on which it grows. Leaves few, 13-19, lower ones very small and nerveless, upper ones larger, with an excurrent nerve, concave, slightly recurved at the point, margin reflexed; areola small, rhomboid. Capsule reddish-brown, entirely covered by the leaves, with a thick blunt beak or point one-third of its own length, Its pedicel thick and very short. Spores numerous, small, pale. Calyptra subconical, rarely cloven on one side. Inflorescence certainly monoicous (dioicous, Bryol. Europ.); antheridia naked, axillary, without paraphyses, solitary or in pairs. In size and general aspect this species approaches to P. triquetrum, but the leaves are very different in shape, not hood-like and carinate as in that species. A small state of P. cuspidatum sometimes occurs, but the leaves are oblong and connivent. We cannot confirm the latest account of the inflorescence given in Bryol. Eur., and therefore we retain this species in Section 2. Its aflinity, however, to those of the previous section is very close. 8. Phascum rectum Smith (straight-necked Earth-Moss); stem very short; leaves crowded, erecto-patent, elliptic-lanceolate, nerve excurrent, margins recurved; capsule exserted, roundish, pointed; pedicel straight, elongated. (TAB. V.) P. rectum Smith. Fl. Brit. 1153. Eng. Bot. t. 330. Turner, Musc. Hib. Withering, Bot. Arr. ed. 4. p. 771. t. 18. f. 1. Hooker and Taylor. Br. and Schimper, Bryol. Eur. fasc. 1. p. 11. t. 5. and fasc. 43. t. 2. Hab. Banks and fields, in England, Wales, and Ireland, more frequent near the sea-coast; rare in Scotland. Fr. Winter. This has the habit of Anacalypta Starkeana, with which it often grows intermixed. It is known by its shorter and roundish capsule. Leaves often reddish. Capsule bright chestnut-colour, with traces of a dehiscent lid, and even of an annulus, when carefully dissected under the microscope. Calyptra roughish with minute papillæ, yellowish brown, dimidiate. Spores muriculate, pale. 9. Phascum curvicollum Hedw. (swan-necked Earth-Moss); stem very short; leaves erecto-patent, lanceolate-acuminate, nerve much excurrent; capsule roundish, pointed, cernuous, exserted; pedicel curved, elongated. (TAB. V.) P. curvicollum Hedwig, Sp. Musc. p. 21. Stirp. Crypt. t. t. 2. Hab. Moist banks and fields. Kent, Mr. E. Jenner. Sussex, Mr. Mitten. Near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Mr. Thornhill. Plants minute, gregarious, about in. long, reddish. Leaves suberect, slightly recurved, twice as long as in the last; upper ones narrowly lanceolate, tapering, the excurrent nerve forming a long bristly point; all of them entire, margin reflexed. Capsule with a shorter and blunter point than in the last, and more rounded at the base, the texture very thin and fragile, almost pellucid, without any trace of a lid. Calyptra dimidiate, smooth, and membranous, covering half the capsule. The curved pedicel of the capsule, and the longer narrow tapering leaves distingush this from the preceding specics. SECT. III. Barren fl. gemmiform, axillary. Allied to Anacalypta. 10. Phascum cuspidatum Schreb. (pointed Earth-Moss); stems simple or branched; leaves ovate-lanceolate, or lanceolate-cuspidate, erect, carinato-concave, nerve excurrent; capsule roundish, shortly pedicellate, immersed. (TAB. V.) |