CRYPTOTIIECII. 65 



ORDER II. CEYPTOTHECI1, Br. & Sch.Pilotrickei, Mull. 

 Stem not flattened; leaves pointing in every direction; 

 veil mitriform ; peristome wanting, single or double. 



3. CRYPH^IA, Mohr. 



Monoicous; stem mostly more or less pinnate, springing 

 from a creeping rhizoma; sporangium immersed; veil small, 

 conico-mitriform, generally more or less rough, more or less 

 incised at the base ; vaginula none ; peristome double ; outer 

 of sixteen teeth, inner of sixteen processes, alternating with 

 the teeth, united below by a short membrane. Arboreous or 

 aquatic. 



1. C. heteromalla; Bridel ; primary stem creeping, pinnate; 

 fertile branches erect, slightly branched; leaves ovate, more 

 or less acute, concave, with the nerve reaching to the centre ; 

 margin reflexed; sporangium unilateral; peristome nearly 

 white. Hook. % Wih. t. xxii. ; Eng. Bot. t. 1180.; (Plate 3, 

 fig. 3) ; Moug. % Nest. n. 732. 



On trunks of trees, in woods. Not uncommon, ft on 

 stones, and at the base of trees in or near rivulets, as in 

 Devonshire. Bearing fruit in early summer. 



About an inch long. Leaves spreading, broadly ovate, 

 acute or acuminate ; sporangia on short perichsetial branches, 

 apparently unilateral, and often crowded, oblong, with a short 

 stalk, yellowish, becoming rufous when old; ring large, de- 

 ciduous ; veil slightly rough ; lid conical, pointed, half as long 

 as the sporangium, brighter-coloured. 



The aquatic form is stouter, and has more obtuse leaves 

 whose margins are not reflexed, and is found at the base of 

 trees on the water- side, or on stones, but does not differ in 

 any essential characters. There are several exotic species, but 

 only one European representative of the genus. 



