lourless at the base of the leaf. Inflorescence monoicous; barren flower gemmiform, terminal on a lateral branch. Plants very small and slender, loosely tufted, growing usually upon detached rocks, bi-triennial; allied to the Seligerica in the mode of growth, but in the structure of the calyptra, in the peristome, and in the curvature of the fruitstalk, approaching to Campylopus. The calyptra and peristome are not unlike those of some species of Grimmia or Dryptodon; but in other respects there is no affinity. Name from Kaμяνλоç, curved, and ornn, pillar, or fruitstalk. Campylostelium saxicola Br. and Sch. (TAB. XIII.) Campylopus saxicola Brid. Mant. Musc. Dicranum saxicola Web. and Mohr. Dryptodon saxicola Brid. Bryol. Univ. i. 770. Grimmia saxicola Hook. and Tayl. Hook. in Eng. Bot. Grimmia geniculata Schwaegr. Suppl. t. 22. Brid. Bryol. Hab. On sandstone rocks, &c., rare. Blackdown, Sussex, Mr. Nov. Stems gregarious, very short. Leaves linear-lanceolate, keeled, margin plane, twisted when dry. Fruitstalk geniculate. Capsule elliptic-oblong, pale. Teeth of the peristome more or less deeply cloven. The only species, for a fuller description of which see the generic character. It is distinguished from all other mosses with geniculate setæ by the twisted linear leaves, and from all the British species, except Dicranodontium longirostre, by the smooth, oblong capsule. 9. BRACHYODUS Nees and Hornsch. WEISSIA Hook. and Tayl. Calyptra conical, 3-5 lobed at the base, subdimidiate. Capsule erect, on a straight pedicel, very small, oblong, subapophysate, its walls thin, substriate, furrowed when dry. Annulus broad. Lid convex at the base, with a slender beak. Peristome single; teeth 16, very short, truncate, equidistant, partly confluent, pale and fugacious, scarcely projecting above the annulus. Spores very small. Vaginula cylindrical. Stems very short, at first simple, at length furnished with single or forked innovations. Leaves lanceolate-subulate, suberect, crowded; areola as in Seligeria. Inflorescence monoicous, terminal, gemmiform. Plants very small, bi-triennial, growing on rocks, in habit and mode of growth allied to Seligeria, except that the stems are gregarious, not cæspitose; and to Campylostelium (according to Bruch and Schimper) in the form of the calyptra, in the organization of the peristome, and in the structure of the annulus, forming with that genus a group intermediate between the Seligerie and the Dicranea. Name from ßpaxvs, short, and ocovs, tooth. Brachyodus trichodes Nees and Hornsch. (bristle-leaved Brachyodus). (TAB. XV.) Bryol. Germ. t. 25. Bruch and Sch. Bryol. Eur. Monogr. p. 3. t. 1. Weissia trichodes Hook. and Tayl Grimmia trichodes Eng. Bot. t. 2563. Gymnostomum Davallianum Smith in Schrad. Neu. Journ. Nees and Hornsch. Bryol. Germ. t. 12. Brid. Bryol. Univ. Hab. On subalpine rocks, chiefly of sandstone or granite. Fr. Spring. Stems gregarious, very small, and slender. Leaves lanceolatosubulate, almost setaceous, the nerve predominant, forming the upper portion of the leaf. Capsule erect, on a straight pedicel, oblong, furrowed when dry. Annulus large. Teeth of the peristome very short and truncated. The only species (see the description of the genus). It is readily distinguished from Seligeria pusilla, its nearest ally, by the striated erect capsule and very short peristome, which at first consists of a mere annular membrane, and has sometimes been mistaken for the proper annulus. This family, according to Bruch and Schimper, comprises three genera; Seligeria, Anodus, and Blindia. Of these we retain the two first, placing Blindia in the Dicraneæ. To avoid prolixity, we shall refer our readers to the descriptions of the genera for an idea of the respective suborders to which they are supposed to belong. There is much to be learned before the exact limits of each group can be ascertained; meanwhile it is our purpose to proceed on the plan laid down in the Bryologia Europea in all cases where good reasons to the contrary do not appear. 10. SELIGERIA Br. and Sch. Bristle-Moss. WEISSIA Hook. and Tayl. Very small, almost stemless mosses (biennial?), growing upon rocks, in patches of a light-green colour. Capsule roundish-pyriform, wide-mouthed, on a straight or curved pedicel. Lid large, obliquely rostrate. Annulus none. Calyptra cucullate, small. Peristome single; teeth 16, equidis tant, lanceolate, obtuse, transversely articulate, smooth and entire, sometimes perforated, without any medial line, hygroscopic, but rather rigid and brittle. Spores rather small, smooth. Vaginula oblong. Stem simple, putting out new shoots near the rooting base. Leaves, lower ones very small and scattered, ovate-lanceolate, scarcely nerved; upper ones larger, crowded, ovate-lanceolate at the base, with a long subulate prolongation wholly or nearly occupied by the nerve, rather straight and rigid, areolation dense, except at the base of the leaf. Inflorescence monoicous; flowers gemmiform, terminal; antheridia few, small, oblong, usually with paraphyses; archegonia few, with short styles, accompanied by paraphyses. Name, in honour of Seliger. 1. Seligeria pusilla Br. and Sch. (long-leaved Bristle-Moss); stems very short, gregarious, or loosely cæspitose, simple or forked; leaves very narrow, lanceolato-subulate, subcrenulate near the middle; teeth remotely barred. (TAB. XV.) Bryol. Europ. Monogr. p. 4. t. 1. Weissia pusilla Hedwig. Stirp. Crypt. t. 29. Schwaegr. Weissia Seligeri Nees and Hornsch. Bryol. Germ. t. 26. Grimmia pusilla and G. Seligeri Web. and Mohr. Distinguished from the next species by its slender habit and narrow leaves, which have a thinner nerve. Capsule very small, turbinate when dry. W. Seligeri is a mere variety, with longer and brighter coloured leaves. 2. Seligeria calcarea Br. and Sch. (short-leaved BristleMoss); stems very short; leaves ovato-subulate, obtuse, the nerve thick and predominant; capsule on a thicker pedicel; lid with a shorter beak; teeth broader, densely barred, obtuse; spores larger. Bryol. Europ. Monog. p. 4, 5. t. 1. Hab. On chalk cliffs, &c. Bridel. Nees and Hook and Tayl. Eng. Bot. t. 191. Fr. April, May. More robust than S. pusilla. Leaves shorter, with a more dilated base, obtuse, thicker and stronger, and of a dull green colour. Capsule larger, more solid, the fruitstalk thicker. A variety of this species occurs with longer and less obtuse leaves, approaching to S. pusilla S. tristicha (not found in Britain) differs in its 3-ranked leaves. 3. Seligeria recurvata Br. and Sch. (curve-necked BristleMoss); leaves lanceolato-subulate, acute ; capsule drooping, on a curved pedicel. (TAB. XV.) Bryol. Europ. Monogr. p. 6. t. 3. Weissia recurvata Bridel, Bryol. Univ. i. 352. Nees and Hook and Tayl. Grimmia recurvata Hedw. Stirp. Cr. t. 38. Smith, Eng. Grimmia pusilla Smith, Eng. Bot. t. 2551. (Dickson's Bryum curvatum Dicks. Dill. Musc. t. 49. f. 53. ? Hab. On rocks, chiefly of sandstone. Fr. April, May. Stems 1-2 lines long, densely gregarious, brittle. Leaves somewhat flexuose, nerved, the nerve predominant or excurrent. Capsule on a longer curved pedicel, horizontal or subpendulous, erect when dry, roundish-pyriform, more loosely cellular than in other species, reddish at the mouth. Operculum less obliquely rostrate. Calyptra longer. It differs from S. pusilla in its larger size and curved fruit stalk. 11. ANODUS Br. and Sch. GYMNOSTOMUM Hook. and Tayl This genus, of which only one species is known, scarcely differs from Seligeria in any other respect than in the absence of a peristome. According to Bruch and Schimper, the two genera agree perfectly in the form of the leaves, in the cellular tissue, and in the form of the capsule and calyptra; the only distinctive characters of Anodus consisting in the minute denticulation of the leaves, in the less solid texture of the capsule, and in the total absence of a peristome. They rely chiefly on the latter character as affording a basis for its separation either as a genus or as a subgenus; the analogy being the same as that of Hymenostomum and Gymnostomum to Weissia, and of Pottia to Desmatodon. "If," say they, "a genus should contain only co-ordinate species, of which the principal organs are in the same degree of development, then the true Gymnostoma ought to be generically separated from those mosses which are furnished with a peristome; if, on the contrary, we admit into a genus an ascending series of forms, all the Gymnostoma may rank in the same genus with analogous forms possessed of a peristome. The latter mode is more sure than the other, because it cannot always be ascertained whether a peristome is really wanting in all circumstances, e. g. in Encalypta vulgaris, Physcomitrium fasciculare, and Cinclidotus aquaticus. These difficulties of classification are the necessary result of our present imperfect knowledge of all the connecting links between the various families and genera, which are often from that cause held together by very far-fetched analogies." Name from arev, without, and odove, tooth. Anodus Donianus Br. and Sch. (Don's Bristle Moss.) TAB. VII.) Bryol. Eur. Monogr. p. 3. t. 1. Gymnostomum Donianum Eng. Bot. t. 1582. Hook, and Hab. On rocks, chiefly of sandstone, rare. Den of Dupplin, Stems very short and slender, gregarious. Leaves lanceolatosubulate, almost setaceous, acute, crenulato-denticulate. Perichætial leaves shorter, rather blunt. Capsule small, turbinate, erect, widemouthed, especially when dry and empty, in which state the columella is exserted. Lid with a short beak. Calyptra dimidiate. One of the smallest of mosses, distinguished from Seligeria pusilla and its allies by the absence of a peristome, and by its smaller size. SUBORD. V. DICRANEÆ. This group contains seven genera; viz. Stylostegium, Blindia, Arctoa, Cynodontium, Dicranum, Leucobryum, and Ceratodon. The first genus has no peristome. The other genera, except Blindia, have the teeth of the peristome more or less deeply cloven. 12. STYLOSTEGIUM. Capsule roundish-pyriform, on a very short pedicel, almost hid in the leaves. Peristome none. Annulus none. Lid large, obliquely rostrate. Calyptra small, cucullate, scarcely covering the lid. Columella thick, falling away, in union with the lid. Spores rather small. Vaginula oblong. Stems perennial, cæspitose, dichotomously branched. Leaves crowded, lanceolato-subulate, entire, suberect, rather rigid and glossy, not crisped when dry; the nerve strong and predomi nant in the upper portion of the leaf; areola oblong, larger towards the base; perichætial leaves sheathing, larger than the rest. Inflorescence monoicous, terminal; barren flowers gemmiform. In habit and mode of growth this genus is nearly allied to Blindia, but has very little affinity with Schistidium, Gymnostomum, and Anœctangium, to one or other of which it has been referred by different authors. Name from orvλoç, a column, and σrɛyn, covering or lid. Stylostegium cæspiticium Br. and Sch. (minute-tufted Beardless Moss); the only species. (TAB. XXXVIII.) Bryol. Europ. fasc. 33-36. p. 3. t. 1. Anoectangium cæspiticium Schwaegr. Suppl. t. 12. |