MOSSES. 6 1 



The red-tinted branch was the Blunt-leafed Bog;-nioss 

 (S. cynibifolium, fig. 1 in cut) ; its little clustering 

 branches are short, and its leaves concave and blunt. It 

 is one of the largest of the family. Another, with pointed 

 leaves, proved to be the equally common Slender Bog- 

 moss (S. acutefolium, fig. 2). It is as tall as the former, 

 but of a frailer form. It is also white, and tinged with 

 pink. The Red Dwarf Bog-moss (S. rubellum) I found 

 in great beauty on the hills above Oban. The ground 

 was very marshy, so much so as to be dangerous for ex- 

 plorers. The stems of the moss were short, branched, 

 and closely matted ; the colour very red, and the leaves 

 blunt. Another Bog-moss, with paler foliage of a straw 

 colour, and with less crowded branches, was intermixed 

 with the Red Dwarf species, and proved to be the Pale 

 Dwarf Box-moss (S. molluscum). The leaves in this 

 species are a broad oval. The Compact Bog-moss (S. 

 compactum), with its forked stems, short crowded 

 branches, and oval leaves, was sent to us by the most 

 patient and successful of Moss collectors, Miss M'Leeray 

 of Jude, Blair Athole. She also procured the fringe- 

 leaved species for us (S. funbriatum), resembling the 

 Slender Bog-moss in general appearance, but with the 

 points of the branch leaves turned back. 



From the margin of a peat pool we gathered a quan- 

 tity of soft green moss, its long branches mingling with 

 those of the Cranberry plant. This was the Wavy leaved 

 Bog-moss (S cuspidatum, Fig. 3); when growing on dry 

 ground it is generally white, but has a bluish green tinge 

 at the tips, instead of a pink or lilac one ; growing in 

 water it is very attenuated, and of a brilliant green. Its 



