204 TASMANIAN BRYOPHYTA, 



R.S. TAS. 



veiy tapering • exostome twisted, the teeth long slender 

 with filiform colourless points, bai's distant and not bold; 

 endo'stome processes similar and half as long, pruinose, 

 adhering at the base to the peristome. 

 Rhyndaston. 



Funariu hygvometrica (L.) Sibth. 



Erect, simple or with few branches, usually under 1 

 cm., but much elongating in moist shaded places. Leaves 

 elliptic, apiculate, usually 2-3 mm. ; margin plain with 

 one line of linear slightly thickened cells ; nerve slender 

 continuous. Seta very long curved towards the apex ; 

 capsule pyriform, oblique, bent furrowed, 2-2.5 mm., taper- 

 ing into a short neck ; mouth slightly constricted, very 

 oblique, ring strongly developed, red; exostome teeth 

 twisted, their points attached to a cribiform disk, teetii 

 bold, barred, lanceolate; endostome of 16 pale processes 

 of same length as exostome. 



Very common, especially on burnt ground. 



Fani. 11— HYPNACEAE. 



Habit various, from simple creeping to dendroid, seldom 

 jDulvinate. Leaves lanceolate to orbicular, usually smooth ; 

 cells usually long, but in one subfamily rotundo-quadrate, 

 small and papillate. Seta arising from a very short branch 

 lew down on the stem, never terminal, long and slender ; 

 capsule oblong to cylindric, usually curved ; lid conic to 

 rostrate ; calyptra narrow cucullate ; peristome always 

 double and well developed ; the exostome of 16 lanceolate 

 teeth with a zig-zag commisural line in the centre exter- 

 nally, and coarsely lamellate on the inner surface; endos- 

 tome with a deep membranous base and 16 slender per- 

 forate or gaping processes; cilia long or short, slender, 

 3-2-1 or none. 



A very large family clearly distinct from the terminal 

 fruiting forms, but passing into Neckeraceae insensibly. The 

 seta is always long, the peristome perfect, and, except in 

 the Lrslceas, the cells are elongated. Many bryologists 

 now split this large family into numerous smaller ones, 

 but this would not carry any advantage in a local flora, 

 though it can with advantage be divided into three sub- 

 families. 



Sub-family. — Hypneae. Habit variou.«. Leaves mostly ovate- 

 lanceolate, smooth, nerve well developed, single, rarely 

 reduced or absent. 



