DECEMBER. 545 



distinguished by the spiral twisting of their thirty-two 

 teeth, which gives to their capsules the appearance of 

 so many little torches, from the bright yellow colour 

 of the fringe. Tortula ruralis is a large species whose 

 leaves end in long white hairs, and which often densely 

 covers thatched roofs. The Encalypta has its calyptra 

 exactly fashioned like an extinguisher ; that of Ortlio- 

 tricJium like a fool's-cap studded with hairs : while the 

 round fruit of Bartramia pomiformis deeply furrowed, 

 is peculiarly elegant seen amidst its light green tufts 

 on sandy rocks. Almost every one who has walked 

 in woods where charcoal has been burned, or trees 

 fallen, must have marked masses of little green or 

 orange-tinged fruit bundled together, with scarcely 

 any foliage, luxuriating on the round bare plots thus 

 left by the woodmen. This is the Funaria Jiygrometica, 

 a singular moss that delights in charred ground, which 

 it is thus the first to gladden again with vegetation, 

 often with a purple- stalked companion, Didymodon 

 purpureum. 



The Brycs are a very numerous tribe of the mosses, 

 amongst which B. liyulatum, with its long tongue- 

 shaped leaves and brown scales at the base of its 

 stalks, presents the appearance of a miniature Palm ; 

 while the reticulated leaves of B. punctatum, an inha- 

 bitant of marshy spots or mountainous rivulets, have 

 a very beautiful appearance. The little Bryitm argen- 

 teum, often seen on rocks or old roofs, is very palpable 

 from its peculiar silvery aspect, and Bryum c&spititium 

 is frequent upon stones in subalpine spots generally 

 with tufted masses of green conspicuous fruit. Every 

 where on banks, old trunks of trees, walls, and in 

 the deep recesses of shadowy woods, appear the 



2 -s 



