Species of Scleropodium 535 



ends, bearing suborbicular, strongly secund leaves 2 mm. in length. 

 For this I suggest the name var. homomalliiin. This variety is the 

 extreme development of the robust form while the typical form is 

 at the other extreme. 



Scleropodium apocladum (Mitt.) . 



y 



Hypnmn apocladum Mitt. Journ. Linn. Soc. 8: 35. 1865. 

 Gamctophyte in wide interwoven mats of medium thickness, 

 li'^ht green above, dirty green below the surface, somewhat re- 



sembling Eiirliynchium strigosum praccox in appearance : stems 

 creeping, 1-4 cm. long, irregularly branching : branches often 

 fascicled, simple or sparingly divided, 3-8 mm. in length, julaceous, 

 attenuate : branch leaves appressed-imbricate when dry, those on 

 the branches below the surface of the mat erect spreading, ovate, 

 acute to short-acuminate, scarcely decurrcnt, slightly serrulate at 

 apex, otherwise nearly entire in the type, other specimens finely ser- 

 rulate nearly to the base, somewhat concave, not plicate or sulcate ; . 

 costa extending at least four fifths the length of the leaf, stout ; 

 median cells linear-oblong, 7-9 : i ; quadrate basal and alar cells 

 very numerous ; apical cells broader and shorter ; the leaves near 

 the apex of the branches narrower and more longly acuminate : 

 leaves of creeping stems variable in shape, semiorbicular and 

 abruptly short-acuminate to ovate and longer acuminate. Peri- 

 chaetium 4.5 mm. long, the inner leaves long lanceolate, long and 

 slenderly acuminate, slightly serrulate, some faintly costate (Mit- 

 ten says "nerved to abov^e middle"). Sporophyte about 12 mm. 

 high : seta red-brown, in the type plainly papillose with low dis- 

 tant papillae, in other specimens strongly roughened : capsule red- 

 brown, about 2 mm. long, 3-4: i ; " suberect, oval cylindrical,"' 

 in other specimens inclined to horizontal, unsymmotnc ; operculum 

 conlc-apiculate ; annulus of two rows of cells ; segments nearly 

 as long as the teeth, split between the articulations ; cilia two, 

 strongly appendiculate ; spores smooth, 0.013 mm. 



A fragment of Mitten's type from "The Northwest Coast, 

 Douglas" has been accessible, and a specimen from the United 



M 



cspitos 



pared with this fragment. The two agree in all essential par- 

 ticulars. The leaves of Dr. Palmer's specimen are more acuminate 

 and more serrulate, the seta is rougher and the capsule more un- 

 symmetric and inclined, but these differences are no greater than 

 frequently occur in individuals of the same species. The seta in 



