Best : North American Pseudoleskea 225 



bracts whitish, loosely erect, narrowly acuminate, lightly costate : 

 pedicels smooth, reddish brown, somewhat curved, 8-10 mm. 

 long : capsule inclined to horizontal, broadly oval, asymmetric : 

 exothecial cells thick-walled, roundish quadrate: urn 1.5 mm. 

 long, 8 mm. wide, constricted when empty : annulus narrow : 

 exostomial teeth yellowish brown, margined, confluent into 

 purplish red basal band 5 joints wide : lamellae numerous, w r ell 

 developed : endostomial band yellowish, papillate, %—% the length 



? 



of the teeth; segments as long as the teeth, not rarely slightly 

 open on the keel : cilia one or two, poorly developed : spores 

 rough, .012-.016 mm. ; ripe in spring. 



Type locality unknown, probably Scotland. 



On rocks, rarely on the bases of trees or the ground. From 

 Labrador and Newfoundland ( Waghorne) to British Columbia, 

 (Macoun) southward. Mt. Washington, N. H. (C. E. Faxon), 



■ 



Idaho (Lieberg, Sandberg), Montana (Williams), Washington 

 (Roll, Suksdorf ), California (Bolander), Greenland : 



Exsic. : Ren. & Card. Muse. Amer. Sept. 92 ; Husnot Muse. 

 Gal. 343. . 



Like all wide-spread species P. atrovirens presents a number 

 of forms, none however sufficiently distinct to be regarded as good 

 varieties. Depauperate and diseased plants, in which the normal 

 characters are more or less obscured, are easily referred to the 

 type. One of these, P. tenella Kindb., collected on the Labrador, 

 appears at first sight distinct in its nearly branchless stems and 

 smaller leaves, but the leaf-cells and capsules suffice to locate it. 

 On the other hand, stouter plants from the Northwest, with leaves 

 more nearly symmetric, capsules slightly larger, cilia better devel- 

 oped and opercula often short beaked, represent the highest de- 

 velopment of the species. 



An examination of European material revealed the fact that at 

 least two distinct species were passing as P. atrovirens. In order 

 to ascertain which of these had priority, specimens were sub- 

 mitted to Mr. Gepp with a request that they be compared with 

 the type in herb. Dickson in the British Museum. In reply he 

 said, M I am able to tell you that Dickson's type agrees macro- 

 scopically and microscopically with No. 1, the leaf-cells in each 

 are quadrate -hexagonal to oval hexagonal, nearly isodiametric, 

 chlorophyllose and stoutly papillose." No. I, to which Mr. Gepp 



