124 HOW TO KNOW THE MOSSES 



Plants growing close together, rarely scattered, on the 

 ground in woods or in the open, especially on burnt-over 

 places; sometimes found in crevices of rock; light yellow- 

 green. 



Stems erect; very short, less than % inch long. 

 Leaves short and broad ; light yellow-green; 

 folding so close in a bulb-like tuft at tip of stem 

 /^^ that the outline cannot be seen unless the 

 ^-^ / leaves are separated by pressing the tuft be- 

 tween the finger-tips. 



Seta long, 1-2 inches; shining; greenish- 

 yellow when young, finally becoming reddish- 



Funaria brown; curved and twisted when dry, quickly 

 hygrometnca \ , ^ 7 -1 ^ 



c 1 ith ^i^twisting when moistened, 

 calyptra; leaf Capsule pear-shaped, unsymmetrical, curved 

 enlarged. ^^ ^^^^ upper side; in various positions; when 



young, light green, yellow or orange, becoming reddish-brown 

 and grooved with age; mouth on one side; when not too old, 

 with a bright-red ring around it; mature in May or June. 



Operculum convex. 



Range, a cosmopolitan species. 



Funaria hygrometrica often covers a large patch of 

 ground, especially in burnt-over places. The abundant, 

 tall, shining, bright-colored setae make the plants very 

 conspicuous. The characteristic capsule is easily recog- 

 nized even before maturity, with the mouth so decid- 

 edly on one side that it often becomes quite parallel to 

 the axis of the capsule, and the seta so variously curved 

 that no two capsules seem to be in the same position. 

 When the fruit is very young, Funaria may be known 

 by the much-curved seta and the long pointed calyptra 



