NEW AND RARE MOSSES 175 



and the usual trumpet-shaped apices were open. Has the unequal 

 development, as to time, of these so-called organs of generation 

 anything to do with the invariably sterile condition of this moss ? 

 According to the Darwinian theory the answer might well be in 

 the affirmative. 



Amblystegium geophilum, n.sp. — Tufts dense, extended, green 

 above turning to a yellowish green through time, abruptly and con- 

 tinuously rufous below ; stems upright, pale, from half an inch to 

 nearly one inch long, slightly branched below, as a rule irregularly 

 pinnate above, leaves almost always slightly secund, spreading a 

 little, and straight when dry, scarcely changing direction when 

 moistened, rather broadly ovate lanceolate, longly and slenderly 

 acuminate, average length of entire leaf (acumen included) one 

 mm., length of acumen from .25 to .4 mm., margin plane entire, 

 but in the upper part slightly incurved, so as to render the leaf 

 concave there ; nerve very slender, composed of very narrow, 

 elongated cells w^hich soon turn yellow^ often reaching half-way, 

 but not unfrequently these narrow cells are only to be detected 

 near the base ; cells at base bluntly cylindrical, detached and 

 separate, with thickish walls, .025-.04 by .004-5 nim., varying little 

 outwards to margin, but upwards longer and a little broader, as well 

 as assuming a bluntly fusiform shape, while the cells nearer apex 

 are sharply fusiform, separate, longer, .04-.055 by .0045-.007 mm., 

 Aler spaces well defined, of oval or slightly oblong, separate, 

 granular cells which also soon turn yellow, .012-.017 x .006-8 mm. 



The tendency of the nerve to become yellow would seem to 

 argue in favour of association with A, filicinum. The margin shows 

 at times minute irregularities arising from the protrusion of 

 individual cells, but otherwise it is quite entire. This moss is 

 singularly constant in its characters and appearance as well as size. 

 It grows almost invariably on sandy earth mixed with the debris of 

 sea-shells. 



Often growing closely associated with the preceding I have 

 found in three localities another very minute moss which I cannot 

 identify with any other. It almost rivals in size the two smallest 

 of the genus, viz., Amblystegium Sprucei and A, co7ifervoides^ and 

 yet it presents peculiarities which mark it, in my opinion, as a 

 distinct species. Unfortunately it has hitherto been found only in 

 a barren condition. 



Amblystegium perminimum, 7i.sp. — In dense, at times widely 

 extended, rather convex tufts, pale green above with here and there 

 indications of a reddish tint, abruptly and continuously red below ; 

 stems filiform, reddish, procumbent at the margins of the tuft, 

 nearly erect, and about one-quarter of an inch long in the centre ; 

 simple, dichotomously divided below or irregularly and shortly 



