92 CRYPTOGAMIA ANTARCTICA. [Puegia, the 
those which are interposed between the larger utricles, and which form the network of the leaf. This is well ex- 
plained by the cauline leaves of Sphagnum fimbriatum (Wils. MSS.), a very curious British and Antarctic species, long 
confounded with S. acutifolium ; in them the spirally lined cells are altogether absent. Spirally lined cells com- 
municate with each other by pores, as we have ourselves witnessed the passage of animalcules (vibrio) from one 
cell into another. 
1. SPHAGNUM cymbifolium, Dill; caule elongato, ramis crassis, foliis imbricatis patentibus ovatis 
obtusis concavis superne denticulatis cellulis ramulorum spiraliter lineatis. S. cymbifolium, Vees e£ Hornsch. 
Bryol. Germ. vol. i. p. 6. t. 1. f. 1, S. obtusifolium, Hook. et Tayl. Muse. Brit. ed. 2. p. 13. t. 4 (ex parte). 
Var. 9. condensatum, Hook. fil. et Wils.; caule humili, ramulis brevissimis undique dense confertis. 
S. condensatum, Brid. Bryol. Univ. vol. i. p. 18 (?). 
Has. Falkland Islands; common in streams, bogs, and peat-ponds. Var. 2. Strait of Magalhaens, 
Port Famine, Capt. King. 
In general aspect exceedingly like the more compact form of S. compactum, Bridel, but preserving the true 
character of the species to which we refer it, in the shape of the leaves, and in the markings of the ramuline cellules. 
Our specimens are all fertile, the stems not two inches in length. An example occurs where two capsules are 
produced upon the same pseudopodium. 
Mr. Valentine was the first to point out (in the ‘Muscologia Nottinghamensis”) the structure of the cells of 
the ramuli, which, from oft-repeated observation, we consider a valid specific character, distinguishing this species 
from all others. On the other hand, the characters derived from the length of the peduncle and the disposition of 
the branches appear to be fallacious. 
2. SPHAGNUM fimbriatum, Wils. MSS.; caule longiusculo gracili subramoso, foliis dimorphis, caulinis 
obovato-subrotundis obtusissimis fimbriatis, rameis ovato-lanceolatis acuminatis concavis acutis, periche- 
tialibus obovatis obtusis valde concavis, theca brevi-pedunculata. 
Has. Hermite Island, Cape Horn, and the Falkland Islands. 
Caulis plerumque gracilis. Rami 3-nati subinde 4—5-nati, longiusculi, apice attenuati. Folia caulina erecta, 
subrotunda, obtusissima, fimbriata!, cellulis propriis (chlorophyllo farctis) reticulum formantibus, interstitiis 
(e defectu utriculorum linea spirali notatorum) vacuis, folia ramorum conferta, erecto-patentia, apice subrecurva, 
concava, acuta, perichztialia subeucullata, subretusa, obtusissima, concava, thecam immaturam arcte amplectentia. 
Theca matura globosa, pedicello breviusculo exserto. 
From Sphagnum acutifolium, Ehrh., this species may be readily known by its more slender habit, and is essen- 
tially distinguished by the peculiar cauline leaves, which consist of an open net-work of parenchymatous cells without 
any intermediate ones lined with spiral filaments; the perichzetial leaves are also very different in shape, and those 
of the branches are more acute, their reticulation also is, especially at the summit, considerably smaller. 
'The specimens here described are not so slender as others gathered in Britain; but possess all their essential 
characters; the S. acutifolia of Montagne (Voy. au Pole Sud, Bot. Crypt. p. 282) is probably the same plant. 
3. SPHAGNUM cuspidatum, Ehrh.; ramulis attenuatis laxis, foliis lanceolato-subulatis laxis patulis sicci- 
tate undulatis marginibus reflexis pericheetialibus acutis. S. cuspidatum, Nees et Hornsch. Bryol. Germ. 
vol.i. p.13.t.4.f.9. Hook. et Tayl. Muse: Brit. p. 15. t. iv. 
Has. Hermite Island, Cape Horn, and the Falkland Islands; common. 
Neither this, nor any of the other southern Spagna, are so universal in the Antarctic bogs as they are in the 
European and Arctic. 
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