94 THE WOODLANDS. 



tries of the hills ; to them, slow-pencilled, iris-dyed, 

 the tender framing of their endless imagery." 



One of the first, as one of the largest, most 

 common, and easily distinguished of mosses found 

 growing on the ground in woods is the common 

 Hair-moss. 1 The simple stems are from a few 

 inches to a foot in length, growing in large dense 

 patches, of a deep green, with narrow sharp-pointed 

 leaves; the prominent capsules standing erect on 

 their long stalks and surmounted by a hood, sharp- 

 pointed at the top, not unlike an extinguisher. It is 

 much used by the Laplanders for beds ; brooms and 

 dusters have been made of it. The tired wanderer 

 will not despise it for a lounge. 



A smaller species with similar general characters 

 is also common in the same localities, which is some- 

 times called the dwarf Hair-moss. 2 It does not 

 occur in such large patches, and its botanical name 

 is derived from its supposed resemblance to a minia- 

 ture aloe. 



In these mosses the tops of the stems will often be 

 seen to present a beautiful starlike 

 appearance, certain supplementary 

 developments of gemmae, here and 

 there brightly coloured, which de- 

 serve attention and study, but it 

 would take us into too wide a di- 

 DWARF HAIR-MOSS, gression to do more than suggest 



them. 

 Mungo Park and his moss has been so often alluded 



1 Polytrichiim commune. 2 PoJytrichum aloides. 



