398 PLOKA ANTARCTICA. [Fuegia, the 



those which are interposed between the larger utricles, and which form the network of the leaf. This is well ex- 

 plained by the cauline leaves of Sphagnum fimbriatum (Wils. MSS.), a very curious British and Antarctic species, long 

 confounded with S. acidifolium ; in them the spirally lined cells are altogether absent. Spirally lined cells com- 

 municate with each other by pores, as we have ourselves witnessed the passage of animalcules (vibrio) from one 

 cell into another. 



1. Sphagnum cymhi folium, Dill.; caule elongato, ramis crassis, foliis imbricatis patentibus ovatis 

 obtusis concavis superne denticulatis cellubs ramulorurn spiraliter lineatis. S. cymbifolium, Nees et Hovnsch. 

 Bryol. Germ. vol. i. p. 6. 1. 1. f. 1 . S. obtusifolium, Hook, et Tayl. Muse. Brit, ed. 2. p. 1 3. t. 4 (ex parte). 



Var. 2. condensatum, Hook. fil. et "Wils.; caule huniili, ramnlis brevissimis undicpie dense confertis. 

 S. condensatum, Brid. Bryol. Univ. vol. i. p. 18 (?). 



Hab. Falkland Islands ; common in streams, bogs, and peat-ponds. Var. 2. Strait of Magalhaens, 

 Port Famine, Copt. King. 



In general aspect exceedingly like the more compact form of S. compactiim, Bridel, but preserving the true 

 character of the species to which we refer it, in the shape of the leaves, and in the markings of the ramuline cellules. 

 Our specimens are all fertile, the stems not two inches in length. An example occurs where two capsules are 

 produced upon the same pseudopodium. 



Mr. Valentine was the first to point out (in the ' Muscologia Nottinghamensis') the structure of the cells of 

 the ramuli, which, from oft-repeated observation, we consider a valid specific character, distinguishing this species 

 from all others. On the other hand, the characters derived from the length of the peduncle and the disposition of 

 the branches appear to be fallacious. 



2. Sphagnum jmbriatum, Wils. MSS. ; caule longiusculo gracili subramoso, foliis dimorphis, caulinis 

 obovato-subrotundis obtusissimis fimbriatis, rameis ovato-lanceolatis acuminatis concavis acutis, perichse- 

 tialibus obovatis obtusis valde concavis, tbeca brevi-pedunculata. 



Hab. Hcrmite Island, Cape Horn, and the Falkland Islands. 



Caidis plerumque gracilis. Rami 3-nati subinde 4-5-nati, longiusculi, apice attenuati. Folia caulina erecta, 

 subrotunda, obtusissima, fimbriata ! , cellulis propriis (chlorophyllo farctis) reticulum formantibus, interstitiis 

 (e defectu utriculoram linea spirali notatorum) vacuis, folia ramorum conferta, erecto-patentia, apice subrecurva 

 concava, acuta, perichsetialia subcucullata, subretusa, obtusissima, concava, thecam imniaturam arete amplectentia. 

 Theca matura globosa, pedicello breviusculo exserto. 



From Sphagnum acutifolium, Elirh., this species may be readily known by its more slender habit, and is essen- 

 tially distinguished by the peculiar cauline leaves, which consist of an open net-work of parenchymatous cells without 

 any intermediate ones lined witli spiral filaments ; the perichsetial leaves are also very different in shape, and those 

 nf the branches are more acute, their reticulation also is, especially at the summit, considerably smaller. 



The specimens here described are not so slender as others gathered in Britain ; but possess all their essential 

 characters ; the S. acii/ifolia of Montague (Voy. au Pole Sud, Bot. Crypt, p. 2S2) is probably the same plant. 



3. Sphagnum cuspidatum, Ehrh.; ramulis attenuates laxis, foliis lanceolato-subulatis laxis patulis sicci- 

 tate undulatis marginibus reflexis perichretialibus acutis. S. cuspidatum, Nees et EornscA. Bryol. Germ. 

 vol. i. p. 13. t. 4. f. 9. Hook, et Tayl. Muse. Brit. p. 15. t, iv. 



Hab. Hermite Island, Cape Horn, and the Falkland Islands; common. 



Neither this, nor any of the other southern Sphagna, arc so universal in the Antarctic bogs as they are in the 

 European and Arctic. 



