—34— 



B. indtisiata begins to develop earlier. In the Adirondacks I have col- 

 lected well-formed capsules in August and September. Prof. C. H. Peck found 

 it mature in October in the Catskills, and Mr. Durand at Ithaca, N. Y. It grows 

 on decaying logs and stumps with other mosses, especially Georgia pelliuida. 



B. Piperi grows on moist banks and on decaying logs, and matures in the 

 fall from August to November, and begins to form the capsules in March, ac- 

 cording to Mr. J. B. Leiberg.— 7V<?Z£/ York Botanical Garden. 



MARCHANTIA AND CONOCEPHALUH 



By William C. Barbour. 



The species selected for this opening paper upon the Hepaticae are com- 

 mon everywhere, but are easily mistaken, each for the other. Marchantia poly- 

 morpha L. here considered, is the only species of the genus which will be found 

 by our readers unless they live in the Southern States. This species is widely 

 distributed in North America, Europe and Asia, and has also been collected in 

 Java and in the Azores Islands. 



Cottocephaluni conicum (L. ) Dumort. has practically the range of our Mar- 

 chantia, with the addition of northern Africa. Both species are found growing 

 on moist earth, though Conocephalum seems partial to damp shaded rocks. 

 The thallus of each is prostrate upon the ground, and when the growth is vigor- 

 ous, is much overlapped and interlaced. 



The thallus of Marchantia is generally once or twice forked, from one to 

 three (rarely more) inches in length, and of a rather peculiar dull green color. 

 The midrib shows very plainly, is quite broad, dark beneath, and bears many 

 root hairs. The surface is areolate, the cells being diamond-shaped and sup- 

 plied with stomata. The species is dioecious, that is, the male and female 



Fig. I. 



Fig. 2. 



Fig. 3- 



receptacles are borne upon separate plants. The male (Fig. i) receptacle has 

 something the form of a Japanese umbrella, being raised upon a stalk half or 

 three-quarters of an inch above the surface of the thallus, and cut into eight 



