AULACOMNIACEAE 



141 



Aulacomnium palustre (L.) Schwacgr. is common 

 in moist and swampy places, but is sometimes found 

 where the ground has become dry; fruit 

 quite common. 



Plants growing close together; usually light 

 yellowish-green. 



Stems varying in length, usually 1-4 inches 

 long; thickly covered with brown radicles (to- 

 mentum) ; frequently terminating in thread-like 

 leafless shoots (pseudopodia), bearing a cluster 

 of brood bodies (gemmae) at the tips. 



Leaves long and narrow; erect, or somewhat 

 spreading when moist; slightly curled when 

 dry; usually light yellowish-green. 



Seta i-i}4 inches long; reddish-brown. 



Capsule inclined, long-cylindrical; reddish-brown when 

 mature; grooved when dry; mature in June. 



Operculum short-beaked. 



Range, Arctic America, south to the mountains of South 

 CaroHna, Utah, and California; South America; Europe; 

 Asia; Australia. 



Anlacomtiium 

 palustre 



Leaf enlarged. 



Aulacomnium palustre is most freciuently found in 

 Sphagnum bogs. The plants are variable both in length 

 and in robustness, but can usually be distinguished by 

 the light yclloivish-grccn leaves, often separated enough 

 to show the stems covered with the reddish-brown 

 tomentum. The thread-like shoots at the tips of the 

 stems are also very characteristic. 



