62 THE MICROSCOPICAL NEWS. 
shortly oval when found on posts, to almost cylindrical when on 
rocks ; lid with a long beak. Stems } to 1 in. high, loosely tuftéd ; 
leaves linear-lanceolate, spreading, concave and not nerved to apex. 
W. calcarea and W. commutata are placed amongst excluded 
species in the London Catalogue, although given in Hobkirk’s 
Synopsis along with W. truncicola. 
Gymnostomum tortile, the curly-leaved, beardless Moss may be 
found on limestone rocks in Derbyshire, and on chalk cliffs in 
Sussex. It is a densely tufted Moss, with crowded leaves strongly 
nerved, curved in the upper part, and incurved and crisped when 
dry ; obtuse at apex and apiculate ; capsule elliptical ; lid rostrate ; 
monoicous. 
Many of the Earth-Mosses ripen their spores in the spring, and 
Fig. 22. 
of those fruiting P. cuspidatum is a very variable and common 
Moss on moist banks and hedges and in fields. It is from $ to Z 
inch in height, with ovate-lanceolate, cuspidate leaves, with the 
nerve prominently excurrent ; capsules roundish, immersed, on a 
short pedicel. 
P. bryoides, the tall Earth-Moss, is rare. 
Another species, common on banks and in fields, is Pleuridium 
subulatum, the awl-leaved Earth-Moss. Stems } in. high; leaves 
lanceolate, sharply tapering from a broadish base, with a broad 
nerve ceasing near the apex; capsules roundish, ovoid and pale 
brown, immersed, on a very short pedicel. 
Not so common as the last, and distinguished from it by its more 
