TWO NEW SPEaES OF BRACHYTHECIUM. 



BRACHYTHECiuM NovEBOR ACENSE sp. Dov. Gametophytc in 

 loosely interwoven, thin, bright green mats, darker green 

 to brown below; stems ascending or creeping, irregularly 

 and rather sparingly branching, sparingly radiculose except when 

 in contact with the soil; branches 3-6cra. long, somewhat fascicu- 

 late; branch leaves distant, loosely spreading, not at all or very 

 slightly striate when dry. very narrowly decurrent, ovate- 

 lanceolate, slender pointed, strongly serrulate above, about 

 2x0.75mm, costate nearly to middle; median cells linear- 

 vermicular, 12-18:1; basal cells enlarged, shorter and broader, 

 oblong to subquadrate; stem leaves very distant below, spread- 

 ing, broadly ovate, acuminate, 2.25X1™"-- alar cells somewhat 

 inflated, with a tendency to form auricles, otherwise like branch 

 leaves; costa sometimes double with one long and one short 

 branch. Monoicous; perichaetial leaves squarrose, long filiform- 

 acuminate from an ovate base, ecostate, nearly or quite entire. 



Sporophyte 2-2.5cni. high; seta red, strongly twisted to the 

 right, rough with scattered papilke; capsule sub- erectand slightly 

 unsymmetric when fresh and ripe, curved and strongly contracted 

 under the mouth when dry and empty, light red-brown, 2-2. 25mm. 

 long, 3 i; operculum long conic, abruptly apiculate; annulus? 

 Teeth papillose above with long sharp papilhe; median line very 

 indistinct in lower two-thirds of teeth; inner peristome nearly as 

 long as teeth, with basal membrane as long as segments ; seg- 

 ments papillose, more or less split; cilia single and large or 

 double; spores ripening in autumn (Dec.) unequally developed, 

 rough, the largest 0.026mm- 



Type from peaty soil in swampy woods. Valley Stream, L. Id , 

 December 9, iSgg; closely interwoven with B. acutum. 



This might be easily mistaken for B. rutahulum when sterile, 

 and indeed would be hard to distinguish from it. The alar cells, 

 however, are larger and the leaf apices shorter as a rule. The 

 leaf apices are longer and alar cells smaller than is usual in 

 B. rivulare. The leaf characters are somewhat intermediate 

 between these two species and those of B. Starkei, but the stem 

 leaves are longer and ovate rather than deltoid ovate. The stem 

 leaves are more distant than in any of the related species, re- 

 minding one of Hypnum cordifolmm. The sporophyte is dis- 

 tinct from that of any other species in the light colored cap.sule, 

 sub-erect and slightly unsymmetric and much smaller than in 

 any of the related species ; teeth much narrower, without a dis- 

 tinct median line in the upper middle portion. 



This species is so distinct that collectors ought to have no 

 difficulty in recognizing it. A specimen from Van Cortland Park, 

 New York City, has the seta rougher than in the type. 



Brachythecu^m Wasiiinctonianum Eaton, Ms., newly de- 

 scribed. Gametophyte in loose mats of bright glossy yellow- 

 green; stems creepmg, ascending, 5-iocm. long, closely and more 



