I'lO T]IE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



that the cells are very naiTow and more or less elongate. The form, 

 nerving, and marginal armature, however, show clearly that it belongs 

 to the Hypnodendracea?. The leaves are ovate-lanceolate, broadly 

 but acutely acuminate ; the rather strong nerve runs up to the apex, 

 but is probably not excurrent. The whole margin of the leaf, almost 

 from the base, is somewhat closely set wdth short but acute, spinulose 

 teeth, which are very frequently, if not generally, bigeminate. The 

 margin of the leaf between the teeth or pairs of teeth is dark in 

 colour, giving the appearance of a thickened border (see fig. c) ; 

 but it is not constant, and is probably an effect of discolouration ; it 

 is often observable, to some extent, in the living plant. I have not 

 l)een able to ascertain whether or not the nerve is spinulose at back. 

 This bigeminate arrangement of the teeth is an infrequent feature 

 among mosses, and characteristic of a comparatively few families, 

 notably Mniaceje, Hhizogoniaceie, Bartramiacere, and Hypnoden- 



a. Amber mouth-piece, nat. size. h. Moss-fragment, XlO. 

 c. Apex of leaf, X 20. 



dracese. The form of the leaves, the nerve, and the narrow linear 

 areolation restrict the possibilities to the last-mentioned family. 

 Among these there are only two existing s^Decies of Indo-Malay 

 distribution exhibiting the leaf -form and structure above described; 

 these are Hypiiodeiidron Beina-ardtii (Hornsch.) and H. arhorescens 

 (Mitt.) Lindb. N(^ither of these species, wdiich are, I believe, indis- 

 tinguishable from one another by the branch-leaves alone, has, I 

 think, bejn recorded from Burmah, or indeed from continental 

 Asia ; but I have a specimen of H. arhorescens in my herbarium 

 from Penang, in the Straits Settlements, and the distribution of the 

 two species would render the occurrence of either of them in Burmah 

 not at all unexpected. The specimen may very well belong to one or 

 other of these two. 



The authentic records of fossil mosses — earlier than the Pleisto- 

 cene — are scanty. Fleischer {^lledwicjia, Ixix. (192U) p. 400) refers 



