228 Best : North American Pseudoleskea 



scarcely papillose, somewhat clear, primordial utricle usually dis- 

 tinct ; basal cells rectangular-quadrate ; alar quadrate to trans- 

 versely oval ; median rhombic-oval to hexagonal-oblong, .007 

 .009 mm. wide, about twice as long ; apical oval-oblong. Dioi- 

 cous : perichetial bracts erect, serrulate or entire, inner lightly 

 costate: pedicels curved, 8 mm. long: capsule subsymmetric, 

 oval-oblong, inclined, exothecial cells quadrate-oblong, irregular : 

 urn 1.5 mm. long, .8 mm. wide : exostomial teeth yellowish con- 

 fluent at base into a reddish basal band 3-4 joints wide : endosto- 

 mial band pale yellow, j£ the length of the teeth ; segments as 

 long as teeth, slightly open : cilia 2, rudimentary : annulus ? oper- 

 culum? spores rough, .013-.016 mm. 



Type locality Colorado ; type in coll. of Columbia University ; 

 collected by T. S. Brandegee. 



Tenderfoot Creek, Belt Mts., Montana. R. S. Williams, Sept. 

 22, 1890. 4000 ft. altitude. 



That there occurs in Colorado and Wyoming, and probably in 

 the adjoining States, a Pseudoleskea distinct in its characters from 

 the other species admits of but little doubt. It is, how r ever, diffi- 

 cult to form a conception of its central type by reason of the 

 scantiness and poor quality of the material at hand. It is just possi- 

 ble that the species in question is a derivative from P. oligoclada. 

 Specimens collected by Earle & Tracy in southwestern Colorado, 

 and by Elias Nelson in Wyoming, are intermediate between P. 

 pallida and var. filescens and show a verging toward depauperate 

 forms of P. oligoclada. 



3a. Pseudoleskea pallida filescens var. nov. 



Secondary stems filiform, simple, or with a few unequal 

 branches : leaves ovate-lanceolate, gradually contracted to a nar- 

 rowly acute or obtuse, serrate point, often serrulate above, .3-4 

 mm. wide, .6-.8 mm. long : margins more or less recurved : costa 

 shorter, disappearing above the middle : perichetial bracts erect, 

 serrulate above, scarcely costate : capsule unknown. 



Colorado ; collected by T. S. Brandegee. 



Differs from the type in being much more slender, leaves nar- 

 rower and areolation somewhat longer and narrower, median cells 

 oblong linear, and branch leaves longer acuminate and serrulate 



§ Radicosella : Plants rather soft, lightly papillose or smooth, 

 median cells usually more than twice as long as wide, basal cells 

 quadrate to oblong -quadrate in several rows : leaves falcate-se- 



cund. 



