110 MOSSES. 



one another made a beautiful carpet. The common 

 Polybody thrust its fronds through this cushion, and 

 luxuriated in its protection for its creeping roots. It 

 reminded me of the old legend of the ferns and mosses 

 being at warfare, when 



" The fern loved the mountain, the moss loved the moor, 

 For the ferns were the rich, and the mosses the poor." 



At this period each kept to its own locality, and the sun 

 scorched the mosses, and dried the roots of the ferns, 

 while the wind beat pitilessly upon them ; but affliction 

 brought both to their senses, and they agreed to help one 

 another ; so the tall ferns shielded the mosses from the 

 sun, and the mosses protected the roots of the ferns from 

 the wind, and kept them moist. The Striated Feather 

 moss (H. striatum, Plate VIII., Jig. 4), resembles! these. 

 It is a very common moss, covering tree roots and stumps, 

 and twining among short grass, giving a downy mat to 

 every rough woodland sjDot. I have found it in Wiltshire, 

 Kent, Yorkshire, and Herefordshire, bearing abundant 

 urns in the winter months. 



We found the Wall Feather Moss (H. murale) growing 

 on some rough stones in an exposed part of the wood ; it 

 is a delicate little moss, with short roundish branches ; 

 its leaves are broad and pointed, and the patches of it 

 were pale green and shining. 



A still more delicate species, the Creeping Feather 

 moss (H. serpens), grew on that same heap of stone ; it 

 has tiny spreading leaves and oblong curved urns. Our 

 attention was next arrested by a cushion of large branched 

 moss, every leaf of which seemed as clean, and bright, 



