82 HOW TO KNOW THE MOSSES 



old roofs, and even on the sand at the seashore. It is 

 very common and fruits abundantly. 



Plants crowded together; fruiting abundantly; most con- 

 spicuous when in fruit ; a rather dark green. 



Stems erect, usually about y?, inch high; 

 often slightly branched by forking at tip of old 

 growth. 



Leaves short, hair-like, spreading when moist ; 

 somewhat folded when dry; a rather dark 

 green. 



Seta about i inch long; becoming dark red 

 when fruit is mature. 



Capsule cylindrical, inclined; dark red like seta 

 and grooved when mature, turning brown when 

 very old; sometimes appearing lateral by new 

 growth of stem; mature in spring. 

 Operculum cone-shaped. 

 Range, a cosmopolitan species. 



Ceratodon purpilreus is one of our commonest mosses 

 and one of the first to attract the eye in early spring. 

 In March, when the snow disappears, the slender 

 young fruit-stalks have already reached nearly their 

 full height and are beginning to turn from green to red; 

 although the capsules are still so spear-like that one 

 can hardly tell where the seta ends and the capsule 

 begins. By late May or early June both have become 

 the characteristic dark red that suggested the name 

 purpureus. Often the new growth starts at the tip of 

 the stem, sometimes forking before the fruit is mature, 

 causing the seta to look as if it came from the side of 



