i66 MOSSES AND FERNS chap. 



their hygroscopic movements, play an important part in scat- 

 tering the spores, and physiologically take the place of the 

 elaters of the Hepaticoe. 



Some ^Mosses live but a few months, and after ripening 

 their spores, die. This is the case with Fiinaria hygromctrica, 

 at least in California. Other IMosses are perennial, and some 

 species of peat or tufa-forming IMosses seem to have an un- 

 limited growth, the lower portions dying and the apices g^'-row^ 

 ing on until layers of peat or tufa of great thickness result, 

 covered over with the still living plants whose apices are the 

 direct continuation of the stems which form the basis of the 

 mass. 



\\^ith the exception of a very few forms all the Mosses are 

 readily referable to three orders. The first two, the Sphagnales 

 and the Andreseales, are represented each by a single genus, and 

 are in several respects the types that come nearest the Liver- 

 worts. All the other Mosses, except perhaps Archidhim and 

 Buxhaiimia, conform to a very well-marked type of develop- 

 ment, and may be referred to a common order, the Bryales. 

 The Phascaceae or cleistocarpous Mosses are sometimes sep- 

 arated from the higher Bryales as a distinct order, but a study 

 ^f their development shows that they belong to the same series, 

 and only differ in the degree of development from the more 

 specialized stegocarpous forms. 



Order I. — Sphagnales 



The Sphagnales, or Peat-Mosses, are represented by the 

 single genus Sphagnum. They are Mosses of large size, 

 which, as is w^ell known, often cover large tracts of swampy 

 land and about the borders of lakes, forming the familiar peat- 

 bogs of northern countries. Owing to the empty cells in the 

 leaves and outer layers of the stem, they suck up water like a 

 sponge, and the plants when growing are completely saturated 

 with water. The colour is usually pale green, but varies much 

 in depth of colour, and in many species is red or yellow. When 

 dry the colour is much duller, largely owing to the opacity of 

 the dry, empty cells which conceal to a great extent the colour 

 of the underlying tissues. They branch extensively, and, ac- 

 cording to Schimper, a branch is always formed corresponding 

 to every fourth leaf; but Leitgeb has shown that although this 



