106 MOSSES. 



like ears of corn over the surface of a field. The Silky 

 Leskea (L. sericea, Plate VIII., Jig. 1) is a beautiful 

 and common species. We found it abundantly at Easby. 

 The branches are crowded along the stem, generally 

 curved inwards ; the lance-shaped, pointed leaves are 

 pressed closely to the stem, lapping over one another ; 

 and the colour varies from deep olive green near to the 

 root to sheeny gold at the tips of the branches. The 

 Keddish Leskea is still more beautiful, its branches 

 broader and beautifully tinged with red. Our specimen 

 is from Blair Athole (L. rufescens). 



The Irish Daltonia (D. splachnoides) is a minute moss, 

 with a roundish urn, and beaked lid. Like the Leskeas, 

 it has the fruit-stalk erect. The Lateral cryphsea (C. 

 heteromalla), a rare Scotch moss, grows in a creeping 

 manner, and has the urns seated on the branches without 

 stalks. There is a larger variety which grows submersed 

 in running water. X either of these mosses grace our 

 collection. 



To procure the greater Water-moss (Fontinalis anti- 

 pyretica, Plate VII., Jig. 6), we sought the suitable 

 habitat, a running stream. Being then at Pdchmond, we 

 thought Skeeby Beck a likely place, and faced the tedium 

 of a long walk on a dusty road to reach it. We were 

 well rewarded for our pains. A large handsome moss 

 attached to stones, its long stems borne forward by the 

 current, its dark green leaves broad and pointed, and its 

 urns seated on the stem half buried in sepal-like leaves, 

 proved to be the species we sought. We drew handfuls 

 of it from the stream, finding it beset with fresh-water 

 mollusks and insects. Afterwards we found it in streams 



