I30 HOW TO KNOW THE MOSSES 



club-shaped, with neck not decidedly marked; reddish- 

 brown; mature in summer or autumn. 



Operculum convex, or cone-shaped. 



Range: The following species are cosmopolitan. 



Bryum bimum Schreb. is the largest of the common 

 Bryums and is found in moist places and on wet ledges. 

 The stems are sometimes 2 inches long and often con- 

 spicuously red, covered in the lower part with reddish- 

 brown radicles. The leaves are four to five times longer 

 than broadest part; the upper ones are sometimes red 

 at the base like the stem; the lower ones are brown. 

 The seta is very long, i>^-2 inches, and the capsule 

 is long and slender, maturing in early summer. 



Bryum caespiticium L., probably the most common 

 species, is found on dry ground and on rocks. The 

 stems are about ^ inch high, and the leaves are usually 

 yellowish-green, about four to five times longer than 

 broad. The seta is 1-2 inches long. Fruit mature in 

 early summer. 



Bryum argenteum L., commonly called the *^ silvery 

 Bryum," is known at once by the silvery ap- 

 pearance of the older plants when dry, due to 

 the lack of green coloring matter in the upper 

 part of the leaves. The stems are usuall> 

 less than ^A inch hisrh and are smoothly 



Bryum / o -' 



argenteum cylindrical, with the very small leaves, too 

 small to be seen, folding closely and overlapping. It is 



