MISCELLANEA BRYOLOGICA 121 



venture to name itr' but it is at least very close to S. Nietnerianum 

 (C. M.), of which Miiller writes : " Habitu H. sigmatodontii vel 

 Braunii . . . differt . . . ab hoc pedunculo laBvi, foliis multo latioribus 

 ovatis (nee anguste lanceolatis ubique convolutisj." It also resem- 

 bles in appearance S. Gedeanuvi (C. M.). Now there is another 

 specimen at Kew, under S. Gedeanum, which from the mounting 

 and labelling was clearly sent out from Leyden at the same time 

 as the specimen labelled H. Braunii in question. The labelling 

 of the two is as follows : — 



H. Braunii MiilL, Herb. Dz. & Mb., Java. 



H. Gedeanum Miill., Herb. Dz. & Mb., Java. 



The writing on the two is almost in facsimile, and is no doubt 

 in the same hand. Now the specimen labelled " i?. Braunii'' is, 

 as I have said, a very difierent plant from the true Braunii, 

 with more erect, much wider leaves. The other specimen, 

 "jff. Gedeamim,'" consists of two tufts, one of which is certainly 

 entirely S. Braunii, the other contains some stems also of 

 S. Braunii, with another species which may well be S. Gedeanum. 

 It appears extremely probable that the labels have been inter- 

 changed in the process of putting up these duplicates ; in any 

 case, the erroneous naming is with little doubt the cause of 

 Mitten's misunderstanding of S. Braunii and the consequent train 

 of errors. Upon them he based his conception of S. Braunii, and 

 his record of Ster. Braunii (Gardner, 784) from Ceylon, which is 

 really S. Nietnerianum ; and also described his Ster. acutirameus 

 as having leaves narrower than in S. Braunii ; which later, no 

 doubt, led the authors of the Bry. Jav. to consider their Javan 

 plant as distinct, and to describe it as H. monoicum. 



What now are Thwaites's 239 and 239 &, determined by Mitten 

 as Ster. acutirameus ? The specimen at Kew of 239 consists of 

 two species, in four tufts, which I have marked a, b, c, d. Of these 

 a, b, c are identical with Mitten's type (No. 110, Gardner), i. e., 

 S. monoicum (Bry. Jav.). The plant marked d is different, and 

 agrees with 2396 (which is the same plant in the Kew and British 

 Museum specimens). This is a tall plant with narrow, longly 

 convolute, spreading leaves, not infrequently secund ; it is dis- 

 tinctly synoicous ; the seta, roughened above, is about 1 cm. long, 

 the capsule very small (1 mm. long, including the peristome). The 

 perichsetial bracts are erect, gradually pointed and slightly denti- 

 culate. It is clearly, I think, S. sigmatodontiiim, which has not, 

 I believe, been recorded from Ceylon ; but its existence there is 

 quite in accordance with its recorded geographical distribution. 

 It agrees in all its general characters, and the synoicous inflores- 

 cence is, I think, quite conclusive. 



This, however, does not exhaust the whole question of the 

 Ceylonese " S. acutirameum." Among the specimens sent by 



• The examination of herbarium specimens of Sematophyllum is rather 

 difficult, except with a good deal of dissection, since it is always necessary to 

 ascertain tlie nature of the inflorescence, while the seta and perichaetial bracts 

 also need careful examination. 



