Mosses and Lichens 



Name. The specific name brevicaule, from the Latin brems, 

 short, and caulis, stem, refers to the height of the plant. 



Plant (gametopbyte) . Short, sim- 

 ple; J to of an inch high. The 

 male plants are minute and bud- 

 like. 



Leaves. Five or six, erect, lance- 

 shaped; apex awned; base broad, 

 transparent; margin serrate, with 

 appressed teeth ; lamella few, 5 to 6 

 cells deep, the terminal one smooth 



Blunt teeth. Lid. 



P. brevicaulc. 



Leaf. 



P.brevicaule. Plant j narrOWed tO 3 long, erect, 



with a sporophyte. 



and elliptic in section. Male-duster 

 leaves erect, curved back from the 

 middle, lapping as shingles, broadly 

 obcordate; vein passing beyond the 

 apex to form a sharp point. 



Leaves at tbe base of tbe pedicel. 

 Sheathing, long, membranous, ab- Section of lame/te . 



P. brevicaulc. 



obtusely serrate point. 



Habit of flowering. Male and female flowers on separate 

 plants (dioicous). Male plants bud-like. 



Veil (calyptra). Hairy, reaching to the base of the spore- 

 case. 



Spore-case. Cylindrical, broadest at the mouth, contracted 

 below the mouth when dry, rough with tiny projections 

 (papillose). 



Pedicel (seta). Twisted, i to 2 inches long. 



Lid (operculum). Flat, with a point at the centre. 



Teetb (peristome). White, simple, of 32 blunt teeth. 



Spores. Mature in winter. 



244 



