14 HOW TO KNOW THE MOSSES 



woven that it is almost impossible to separate them. 

 Such mixed material is not good to study or to keep 

 for the herbarium. It is not unusual to collect an ap- 

 parently good fruited specimen and upon careful exam- 

 ination to find that the fruit of some moss quite hidden 

 from view has pushed up through the conspicuous 

 growth on the surface, giving a wrong idea of the cap- 

 sule that really belongs to the moss first noticed. 



The color of a moss given in descriptions is that of 

 the leaves, as the leaves so thickly cover both the stem 

 and branches, but sometimes when the leafy part is 

 small, the color of the fruit-stalks is more conspicuous. 

 In a few cases when moist plants are held to the light, 

 the stems and branches of the new growth show con- 

 spicuously red through the leaves. (See Pohlia, p. 1 27 ; 

 Bryum, p. 129; Hylocomium, p. 225; Hypnum, p. 229.) 

 When this is the case it is mentioned in the descrip- 

 tions; otherwise color is given only under ^'Plants" 

 and repeated under *' Leaves." Sometimes the lower 

 part of the stem is covered with reddish-brown or 

 whitish radicles, forming a felt-like coating called 

 tomentum, which often mats the stems together. (See 

 Dicranum, p. 87. ) 



