AN(ECTANGIEI. 153 



Very different in habit from any other British Moss. 



ORDER VII. ANCECTANGIEI, Br. & Schimp. 



Sporangium erect, oval or spherical, with a small persistent 

 annulus, but entirely free from peristome; vaginula perfect 

 an.d not more or less blended with the original receptacle or 

 partially immersed below the point of insertion of the upper- 

 most perichaetial leaves ; leaf-cells small, quadrate. 



31. ANCECTANGIUM, Br. % Schimp. 



Sporangium oval, with a slight apophysis ; peristome want- 

 ing. 



1. A. compactum, Schwag. ; densely tufted ; stem slender ; 

 leaves lanceolate, slightly toothed below ; sporangium small, 

 ovato-oblong ; lid obliquely rostrate. Hook, fy Wils. t. vi. ; 

 Eng. Bot. t. 2201.; (Plate 14, fig. 1.) 



In the crevices of alpine rocks, especially near waterfalls. 

 Bearing fruit in autumn. 



Dioicous ; forming dense tufts, bright-green above, ferru- 

 ginous below. Stems 2 to 3 inches long, slender, forked ; 

 leaves imbricated, crisped and spirally directed when dry, ovato- 

 oblong or lanceolate, entire above, slightly toothed below ; 

 nerve strong, reddish, reaching to the apex ; leaf-cells minute, 

 rectangular or quadrate, arranged in lines, scarcely altered at 

 the base ; fruitstalk \ an inch long ; sporangium small, ovate, 

 contracted at the mouth with a slight swelling below ; lid ob- 

 liquely rostrate, nearly as long; veil cuculliform, obliquely 

 subulate. 



The genus is altogether anomalous, and, on account of its 

 dichotomous stems and the structure of the leaves, is placed 

 by Schimper near Weissia. 



