t 



DICRANACEAE 8i 



Plants thickly crowded together; glaucous or light bluish- 

 green above, brown below; fruit occasional. 



Stems usually less than i inch long, erect, slender, 

 slightly branched. 



Leaves long, hair-like, erect; some at least showing the 

 characteristic glaucous or light bluish-green color. 



Seta about % inch long; yellowish or pale 

 reddish. 



Capsule erect, cylindrical; reddish; mature in 

 early autumn. ^ , . 



Saelania 



Operculum cone-shaped, not easily seen. giaucescens 



Range, Greenland and Labrador to the Mid- 

 dle Atlantic States, west to British Columbia and Colo- 

 rado; Europe; Asia; New Zealand. 



Saelania giaucescens (Hedw.) Broth. (5. caesia 

 Lindb.) is to be expected only in elevated regions, 

 especially in limestone country. It is at once distin- 

 guished by the glaucous bluish-green of the upper leaves. 

 No other moss has this peculiar color. The plants first 

 impress one as being coated with some foreign matter, 

 and a hand-lens shows the back of the leaves covered 

 with a white substance. 



4. CERATODON Brid. (Ce-rat-o-don) 



A genus of many species widely distributed. Name 

 derived from the Greek for " horn " and '' tooth," 

 referring to the teeth of the peristome. 



Ceratodon purpiireus (L.) Brid. is found all over the 

 world, growing on barren soil, burnt-over places, rocks, 



