DICRANACEAE 87 



fruit has become dark and broken, while the new cap- 

 sules are merely slender spears. The plants have a 

 characteristic curly appearance when dry, due to the 

 long leaves slightly curling. Two other mosses with 

 similar growth, leaves, and habitat, are Dicranum fus- 

 cescens (p. 93) and Bartramia pomiformis (p. 144). 

 The leaves of these two species become somewhat 

 crisped in drying, but they are not so distinctly curled 

 as in OncopJiorus, and in the Dicranum they are more 

 or less turned to one side. The lower part of the stems 

 of both Dicranum and Bartramia is usually covered 

 with a felted mass of brown radicles, called tomentum, 

 which is not found on the stems of OncopJiorus. The 

 fruit of Bartramia, if present, distinguishes the genus 

 at once, as it is round instead of cylindrical ; but the fruit 

 of Dicranum is similar to that of OncopJiorus in general 

 appearance, although usually not so curved. 



With a hand-lens the small projection at the base of 

 the capsule can be seen, which suggested the name of 

 the genus. 



8. DICRANUM Hedw. (Di-cra-num) 



A large cosmopolitan genus comprising several of 

 our common mosses. Name derived from the Greek 

 for a '' two-pronged fork," referring to the teeth of the 

 peristome. 



Plants varying in size, often robust, growing close to- 

 gether, forming mats or tufts, on damp soil, rocks, decaying 



