88 MOSSES. 



little moss. The curious heads (capituli) show little 

 grains on the surface when examined with a lens, 

 (Androgynum aulacomnion, Plate II, Jig. 12.) 

 There is a Marsh species (A. pausltrej, resembling this, 

 only larger. 



The Slender Thread moss (Orthodontium gracile) is 

 a minute species, with short slender stems, branched and 

 tufted. We have no specimen. Our kind Blair Athole 

 contributor sent us the Golden Thread moss (Leptobryum 

 pyriforme, Plate VI, Jig. 13). It has silky thread- 

 shaped leaves. Its pear-shaped urn, and fruit-stalk bent 

 at the neck, show its relationship to the true Thread- 

 mosses (Bryurn). 



These Bryums form a large group. They grow in 

 tufts, on trees, rocks, and banks, with pear-shaped urns 

 drooping elegantly, and leaves clasping the stem. 



The Alpine bog Thread moss (Bryurn pseudo-trique- 

 trum), was sent to us from the Highlands. It belongs to 

 a group of Bryurns with ovate leaves, it has long stems, 

 and grows in patches of a blackish green colour, the 

 different styles of fructification are on different plants. 

 From the same district came the Alpine Thread moss, 

 (B. alpinum) its red tinted foliage and dense tuft mak- 

 ing it remarkable ; our friend could find no urns upon it. 

 In our pretty Swaledale fern- wood we found patches of 

 pale reddish moss on the margin of the stream, the stems 

 were about an inch long, and thinly clothed with oval 

 pointed leaves. The urn did not droop so much as in 

 most of the species. It proved to be the pale-leaved 

 Thread moss (B. palleus, Jig. 12). We found it again in 



