74 MOSSES. 



tufts, being entwined with brown fibres, and having 

 upright leaves lapping over each other. The urn is 

 furnished with a very long lid. It is a rare Moss, and 

 our specimens came from our kind friend at Blair- 

 Athole. 



There are a great number of these Screw Mosses ; but 

 those that we have here may serve as guides to the whole 

 set. The Aloe-leaved species frequents clay banks, as 

 does also the Bird's claw. The Slender Screw Moss, 

 the Spreading-leaved Screw Moss, and the Hoary Screw 

 Moss prefer chalk : while the Eevolute and Convolute 

 favour sandstone, and the Great Hairy Screw Moss grows 

 on thatch. The rough-leaved and smaller Hairy Screw 

 Mosses are parasites on trees. 



Almost too nearly allied to the Screw mosses to con- 

 stitute a separate group is the Water Screw moss family, 

 the fringe has the same winding habit, but there is no 

 stalk to the urn, or so short a one as hardly to deserve the 

 name. 



During our trip in the Highlands we had the pleasure 

 of finding the smaller species (Cinclidotus Fontinaloides 

 Plate V., Jig. 11), in a rivulet near Oban. It was grow- 

 ing on a submerged stone, and the stems were borne along 

 in the current. Some of them were five inches long. 



The leaves are crowded and spreading, except when 

 borne in one direction by the current ; the urn is oval, 

 and the fruit-stalk extremely short ; the lid and the veil 

 are both cone-shaped, the latter of a corky texture. 



The Greater Water Screw moss is not found in Britain, 

 except in a dwarfish, stunted form, growing high and dry. 



The Screw mosses are succeeded by the Extinguisher 



