104 



FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND. 



\Musci. 



Hab. Northern and Middle Islands : Waikehi, Sinclair. Dusky Bay, Port Nicholson, Milford Sound, 

 Thomson's Sound, and Bligh's Sound, Lyall. 



About three inches in height (from a creeping rhizoma), bright shining green. Leaves sometimes with an ex- 

 ceedingly faint nerve one-third of their own length. Seta i inch or more, flexuose, sometimes arcuate at the top 

 as in Hedwig's figure. Capsule large, slightly curved or unequal. Peristome long, about one-thrrd the length of 

 the capsule; teeth pale yellow, incurved when dry. Inner peristome almost white. PencUtml leaves long and 

 narrow serrated. Anictangium planifolmm of Hedwig, Sp. Muse, may be quite distinct, having leaves more tapering 

 and more spreading ; and in Herb. Hook, is a barren specimen from Java, given by Professor Nees, which seems the 

 same as Hedwig's Moss, and different from the one above described. Scbwaegrichen, however, suspects that Hedwig s 

 plant may be Hypnum aciculare. 



Tribe XVIII. Isotheciaceje. 



Gen. LIU. ISOTHECIUM, Bridel. 



Pemtommm duplex : exlerius, dentes 16, ut in Hypno : interim, membrana in processus 16 carinatos 



cum vel absque ciliis interpositis profunde divisa. Calyptra cnculliformis. Capsula erecta, squabs vet 



e curvatura pedicelli cernua, snbasqualis, annulata.-Habitus dendroideus. Ehizoma repent. Surcuh mfeme 



nudi, rigidi, superne pinnatim ramosi. 



Bruch and Schimper restrict the definition of the genus. We here follow Bridel, admitting, however, that the 

 group is susceptible of subdivision. 



§ 1. Fronde diffusa, suherecta. 

 1. Isothecium sulcatum, Hook.; dioicnm, surculo pinnatim ramoso, ramis confertis ramulosis, foliis 

 confertis imbricatis suberectis ovatis obtusiusculis mucronulatis concavis (cymbiformibus) aprce serrulate 

 solidinerviis dorso spinulosis, seta breviuscula, capsula cylindrica erecta sulcata, operculo subulate.— Leskea, 

 Hook. Muse. Exot. t. 164. Schwmgr. Suppl. t. 270. Clinacium sulcatum, Bridel, Bryol. Umv. 



Hab. Northern Island: Bay of Islands and Auckland, Sinclair, J.B.IL, Colenso. On trunks ol 

 Kikatea Pine-trees (barren). 



An Australian Moss.-SurmU 2-3 inches long, with yellowish foliage. Branches crowded, numerous, the 

 larger fronds bipinnate, in form subovate. Leaves concave, boat-shaped at the apex, the strong nerve spmulose at 

 the back. Fruit inserted near the top (often on the branches) of the frond. Seta \ inch long. Capsule reddish, 

 furrowed or octangular. Peristome in the original specimen yellow (not red); the outer teeth incurved when dry, 

 faintly marked with a medial line, not trabeculate internally.— The original specimens in fruit do not well show 

 the ramification. 



9. Isothecium Arlmscula, Smith; dioicum, surculo bipinnato-ramoso, foliis imbricatis patentibus ovatis 

 concavis integerrimis basi obsolete binerviis, seta breviuscula flexuosa, capsula ovata suberecta vel cernua, 

 operculo conico.-Hookeria Arbuscula, Smith, Linn. Trans. Hypnum Arbuscula, Hook. Muse. Lxol. 

 1. 112. Schwagr. Suppl. t. 300. 



Var. p. deflexvm; surculo laxius ramoso arcuato defiexo apice radicante, folns remotionbus acution- 



bus minus concavis.— H. deflexum, Wils. MSS. 



Hab. Abundant throughout the Islands, on trees. Yar. /3. Middle Island, Lyall. 



Also found in Tasmania.-taH 2 to 3 inches high, arising from a stout, woody, creeping rhizoma, bare of 

 branches in the lower part, rigid. Leaves more or less concave, in the typical form inflated, more or Jess acute, in 

 the var. 0. tapering gradually ; perichsetial leaves longer and narrower. Seta about two lines long, thick, flexuose, 

 often arcuate at the top, whence the capsule is more or less ccrnuous. Capsule variable, in some specimens straight 

 and symmetrical, in others curved as in Hypnum. 



