1906] Evans, Notes on New England Hepaticae,— I V 43 



distinct species, by others a variety or form of P. ciliare (L.) Nees. 

 At the present time the first of these views is more widely held, and it 

 is perhaps advisable for American hepaticologists to follow the exam- 

 ple of the Europeans in this respect. At any rate the plant is distinct 

 enough to merit their attention. P. pulcherrimiim is distinguished 

 from P. ciliare largely by a difference of habit. In P. ciliare the 

 plants grow in loose iufts which are often three inches or more in 

 depth; the individual stems are erect or nearly so and mutually sup- 

 port one another; they are sparingly branched, and the stem-leaves 

 tend to be distant or only loosely imbricated. In P. pukherrimum, 

 on the other hand, which is a smaller plant, the stems are prostrate,^ 

 and the plants form depressed mats which rarely attain a depth of 

 half an inch. They are more intricately branched than in P. ciliare, 

 and most of the branches, except those bearing perianths, arc prostrate 

 like the main stem, often giving a mat a stratified appearance. The 

 stem-leaves tend to be densely imbricated. P. ciliare is abundant in 

 northern and subalpine regions and becomes rarer toward the south. 

 It grows on the earth or more rarely on rocks. P. pulcherrimum is 

 more southern in its distribution but also occurs in cool localities. It 

 commonlv grows on logs or on trees, more rarely on rocks and appar- 

 ently never on the earth. When well-developed there is usually no 

 trouble in separating the two plants at a glance. Poorly develoi)C(l 

 or inunature specimens are, however, sometimes indeterminable. 

 The microscopic characters separating the plants are less definite 

 than the macroscopic and are purely relative in their nature. In both 

 species the divisions of the leaves and underleaves bear marginal cilia, 

 but these are less numerous in P. ciliare than in P. pulcherrimum. 



The following stations, quoted from the Yale herbarium, will give 

 some indication of the distribution of these two species in New Eng- 

 land, but both have doubtless been collected in many other localities:— 

 p'. pulcherrimum. T^Iaine: Moose River (L. B. Tuckerman); Owls 

 Head Mountain, Buckfield, Oxford Co. (J. A. Allen); Orono {E. D. 

 Merrill); ^It. Katahdin {Coivles Party, 1, S, 9, 16); Ui. Kmeo, Mt. 

 Bigelow, and Carratunk (J. F. Collins, 1758, 1518, 1563, im, ^771, 

 1775). New Hampshire: Shelburne {D. C. Eaton); Cornish (Mm- 

 Haynes). Vermont : Leffert's Mills and Mt. Killington (C. M. Cooke, 

 Jr.). Massachusetts: Deerfield {Emmons); West Newbury {Miss 

 Haynes). Connecticut: W'oodbridge, Hamden, Bethany, and Meri- 

 den {D. C. Eaton); WcstviUe, North Haven, Seymour, and Salisbury 

 {A. W. E.). 



