HYPNACEAE. 



447 



1. Amblystegium varium (Iledw.) Lindb. 

 VARIABLE AMBLYSTEGIUM. (Fig. 492.) Plants 

 growing in loose thin mats up to 1' high; stems 

 prostrate and branching; branches short and 

 slender, erect and simple ; leaves small, spread- 

 ing, ovate-acuminate, margins entire or rarely 

 obscurely toothed; vein stout, ending in the tip; 

 cells 24 times longer than wide, those of the 

 basal angles square or oblong. Pedicel erect; 

 capsule curved and contracted below the mouth 

 when dry ; inner peristome finely papillose with 

 keeled segments and cilia; spores small, slightly 

 roughened, maturing in spring. [LesTcea varia 

 Hedw.] 



On shaded rocks near caves. Very common and 

 widely distributed in America and Europe. 



2. ISOPTERYGIUM Mitt. 



Plants usually rather small; stems decumbent and irregularly branched; 

 leaves somewhat flattened, small and crowded, usually symmetric ; vein short 

 and double or none ; pedicel erect ; capsule erect or horizontal ; lid conic or 

 apiculate; calyptra cucullate; peristome double. [Greek, referring to the 

 symmetric leaves.] A large genus of 168 species, mostly American, in tem- 

 perate and tropical regions. Type species: Isopterygium planissimum Mitt. 



1. Isopterygium micans (Sw.) 

 Mitt. GLOSSY ISOPTERYGIUM. (Fig. 

 493.) Plants up to 8" high in dense 

 glossy yellowish green mats; stems 

 slender, decumbent; branches simple 

 or divided : leaves crowded, spread- 

 ing, small, ovate-acuminate, faintly 

 serrate, veins short, double, obscure; 

 cells long and narrow, a few at basal 

 angles distinctly shorter and broader. 

 Pedicel erect, slender; capsule hori- 

 zontal, curved and contracted below 

 the mouth when dry; lid conic, slightly 

 apieulate, cilia more or less developed, 

 spores small. [Hypnum micans Sw.] 



On roots of ferns and on rotten 

 wood in marshes. Found in various 

 parts of the eastern United States ; also 

 in Cuba and Jamaica. 



