448 



SEMATGPHYLLACEAE. 



Family 12. SEMATOPHYLLACEAE Brotheriis. 



SEMATOPHYLLUM FAMILY. 



Plants usually forming dense tufts; stems creeping; branches erect, 

 irregular and unequal, sometimes pinnate; leaves small, crowded, often 

 secund; veins short, double or lacking, cells usually much longer than 

 ' wide ; those of the basal angles often larger, inflated or square. Pedicel 

 long, erect; capsule usually horizontal without an annulus; calyptra cucul- 

 late; lid usually with a long slender beak; peristome double. Twelve 

 genera and 448 species widely distributed in tropical regions. 



1. SEMATOPHYLLUM Mitt. 



Characters of the family. [Greek, in reference to the pointed leaves.] 

 A large genus, 315 species known mostly from tropical America. Type species: 

 Hypnum substrumulosum Hpe. 



1. Sematophyllum adnatum (Michx.) E. 

 G. Britton. SEMATOPHYLLUM. (Fig. 494.) 

 Plants small, yellowish-green, glossy ; stems 

 short, seldom more than 2" long, creeping; 

 branches erect, somewhat curved at apex; 

 leaves crowded, spreading or secund, acumi- 

 nate; margins recurved, entire or faintly ser- 

 rulate ; veins short or none ; cells spindle- 

 shaped, those of the basal angles enlarged and 

 hyaline. Pedicel short; capsule very small, 

 ovoid, contracted below the mouth when dry; 

 lid long-beaked, teeth with deep projections 

 on the inner surface, papillose at apex; spores 

 rough, small, maturing in summer. [Leskea 

 adnata Miehx.] 



On rotten wood in shade. Virginia to Florida. 



Class 2. HEPATICAE. 



LIVERWORTS. 

 CONTRIBUTED BY ALEXANDER W. EVANS. 



Terrestrial, epiphytic, or rarely aquatic plants, showing a dis- 

 tinct alternation of generations, the gametophyte existing as an 

 independent individual, the very different sporophyte partially or 

 wholly parasitic on the gametophyte. Gametophyte dorsiventral, 

 consisting of a thallus or more or less differentiated into stem and 

 leaves, attached to the substratum by means of rhizoids (true roots 

 none), growing by means of an apical cell. Sexual organs borne 



