4 



FISSIDENS HYALINUS. 



WE found this moss growing on a steep bank in a moist, 

 shaded ravine, along with F. ta.xijolius and Hypnutn 

 hians. It seems not to grow abundantly where it does 

 grow, and this, added to its insignificant appearance, makes it a 

 difficult object to find. 



When we gathered these plants a short time ago it occurred 

 to me that the conditions were not so peculiar that they might not 

 be found in other places, and we began a hunt for other banks in 

 moist, shaded ravines where the iaxifolius^rovjs.. The t axif alius 

 was our guide, and we have recently been successful in finding 

 the moss in three other places. 



We begin to think this little moss is more widely distributed 

 than has been supposed. When in fruit it may be detected by a 

 sharp eye held close to the ground, as the red peristome is promi- 

 nent for so small an object. In hunting for this plant we have 

 found it a good plan to take up with a case knife a slice of ground 

 where smaller plants of ta.xifolius grow somewhat loosely and 

 examine with a magnifying glass. If the hyalinus is in fruit it is 

 easily detected by its red peristome, and its leaf is easily known 

 when seen through a glass, since it is without mid-rib and the 

 cells are so large that its appearance is similar to that of Phys- 

 comitrium. The hyalinus sometimes grows in clusters of 20 to 

 50 plants, but oftener separately.— £"jr/ra(r/ frotn a letter of 

 Alonzo Linn to Mrs. E. G. Brittoii, Nov. ist, iSg^. 



FISSIDENS GRANDIFRONS Brid. 



THIS rare and interesting species is one of the largest of the 

 genus; its stems measure from one to five inches in length, 

 often repeatedly branched and rooting at the base of each 

 branch, ultimately dividing into numerous smaller plants, and 

 thus propagating the species. The leaves are long and narrow, 

 closely placed, and the stem appears as a white wavy line be- 

 tween their clasping bases. They are composed of several layers 

 of cells, which make them opaque and dense, for which reason 

 Carl Miiller coined the name Pachyfissidens, since raised to 

 generic rank by Limpricht. They grow immersed in water satu- 

 rated with lime, or in mud, and the plants are often encrusted and 

 discolored to a dark green or brown. The species is dioicous,and 

 the fruit has been found only once, in the Himalaya Mountains 

 by Falconer, though this species occurs at several stations in 



