Mu8<si."\ 



FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND. 



93 



large, concealed by the perichsetial leaves, its wide mouth after the fall of the operculum nearly closed with a mem- 

 brane proceeding from the sporular sac, leaving an aperture scarcely large enough for the escape of the very large 

 spores. Calyptra exceedingly small, barely covering the point of the operculum. Inflorescence monoicous. Male 

 flower spuriously gemmiform, or axillary below the fertile flower ; antheridia mixed with filiform paraphyses. 



§ 2. Scleeostomum. — Capsula scleroderma, siccitate striata; operculo rostrato ; calyptra cucullata. Folia 

 coriacea, rigida, Morescerdia dioica. 



2. Hedwigia Humboldtii, Hook.; caule erecto pimiatim ramoso, foliis imbricatis obovatis concavis 

 piliformi-acuminatis rigidis coriaceis, seta longiuscula, capsula subglobosa sulcata, operculo e basi planius- 

 culo oblique rostrato, calyptra cucullata.— Soot. Muse. Emit. t. 137. Anictangium, Bridel, Bryol. Univ. 

 Fl. Anlarct.pp. 135, 415. 



Var. ft. australis ; caule breviore, foliis brevius acuminatis immarginatis, seta brevi. 



Hab. Middle Island, Lyall. 



A native of Tasmania, Swan Eiver, and King George's Sound, the Antarctic Islands, and South America. 

 After careful examination, we find this Moss to be truly acrocarpous, contrary to the opinion of Bruch and Schimper. 

 —Operculum with a long beak. Calyptra cucullate, reddish-brown. Seta i inch long. Pericytial leaves sheath- 

 ing, larger than the rest, reddish, glossy. Inflorescence dioicous. Male flowers axillary, numerous. Antheridia in 

 the axils of the perigonial leaves.— This Moss will rank very near to Braunia (Bryol. Europ.), and will constitute a 

 separate genus. 



Tribe XL Splachne^i. 

 Gen. XXXIX. EREMODON, Bridel 

 Peristomium simplex. Denies 8 sequidistantes, vel 16 per paria connexi, infra capsulee ore orti, plani, 

 siccitate incurvi, vel recurvi. Capsula erecta, oblonga vel clavata, anguste apophysata, exannulata. Oper- 

 culum convexo-conicam. Calyptra conico-mitrseformis, basi appendiculata,, lacera, glabra vel apice plus 

 minus aspera.— ITorescentia monoica vel dioica: fios masc. capituliformis subdiscoideus, foliis involwcralibus 

 e medio dilatatis: antheridia paraphysibus subclavatis imrdwta. Folia mollia, laxe areolala, serrata, acumi- 

 nata, nervo subcontinuo, molli. 



This group differs from SplacJmum, Dissodon, and Tayloria, of Bryol. Europ., in the smaller number of divisions 

 of the peristome, supposed to consist, as first suggested by Brown, of thirty-two teeth, more or less united into single 

 or double pairs. Tetraplodon of Bryol. Europ. is considered to have thirty-two teeth, divided into sixteen double 

 teeth ; at first appearing as eight double pairs, subsequently as sixteen pairs : but in that genus the calyptra is di- 

 midiate, without any inflexed appendage at the base, and the apophysis is larger than in this, which does' not appear 

 to have further subdivision of the peristome than that of sixteen intimately paired teeth.— Very probably Orthodon 

 of Bridel will be found to agree essentially with Eremodon in every respect but the hairy calyptra, and both may 

 ultimately be advantageously united into one genus. 



1. Eremodon robustus, Hook. fil. et Wils.; caule longiusculo tomentoso, foliis laxis patulis apice re- 

 curvis spatlmlato-lanceolatis acuminatis argute serratis nervo sub apice evanido, seta longiuscula, capsula 

 clavato-oblonga erecta, peristomii dentibus octo siccitate incurvis, operculo subconico, calyptra apice scabra 

 (Tab. LXXXYII. Fig. 2.) 



Hab. Northern Island : Bay of Islands, etc., Oldfield, Sinclair. Auckland, Knight. 

 A Tasmanian Moss. Fertile specimens 1 inch long or more, barren steins often 2-3 inches, with much of the 

 aspect of a Mnium, or of Bryum Auberti .- it also resembles Tayloria serrata, Bryol. Europ., but is more robust — 

 leaves distant, large, loosely reticulated, spreading, and not much altered when dry. -Seta | inch long, rather thick. 

 Teeth wide at the base, yellow. Calyptra four-parted at the base, thence conical and entire, rough at the apex— 

 Plate LXXXVII. Fig. 2 :— 1, 2, plants, natural size; 3, capsule; 4, teeth; 5, 6, leaves :— all but fig 1 magnified 



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