174 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH MOSSES. 



shaped, pendulous, reddish; spore-sac attached to the walls 

 by threads; lid convex, obtuse; spores rough; veil hood- 

 shaped, fugacious. 



Not found at present on the Continent. 



ORDEE XV. FITNARIEI, Br. & Sch. (Pliyscomitriei, Schimp.) 



Sporangium pyriform, straight or oblique, even or striate ; 

 peristome variable, sometimes wanting; veil inflated below, 

 subulate above, vesicular, split at the base ; leaf-cells large. 

 Annual or subbiennial Mosses. 



45. PHYSCOMITRIUM, Brid. 



Veil not reaching beyond the middle of the sporangium, 

 5-6-lobed, furnished above with a long straight beak ; peri- 

 stome none. 



1. P. sphgericum, Br. fy Schimp.; monoicous; leaves spread- 

 ing, ovate and spathulate, subacute, obscurely toothed ; nerve 

 vanishing below the tip ; fruitstalk short ; sporangium subglo- 

 bose, wide-mouthed ; lid large, conical. Hook, fy Wils. t. lii. ; 

 Eng. Bot. t. 2830. ; (Moug. ty Nest. n. 708.) 



On dried mud of pools. Mere, Cheshire. Bearing fruit 

 September, 1854. Not found elsewhere in Great Britain. 



Forming more or less dense pale-green patches. Stems 

 1-3 lines high; leaves decurrent at the base, concave, some- 

 what rosulate above; leaf-cells large, equally or unequally 

 hexagonal ; fruitstalk about 2 lines high ; lid mammillary ; ring, 

 according to Schimper, very narrow and breaking up, con- 

 sisting of a single row of cells. 



2. P. pyriforme, Br. fy Schimp. ; monoicous ; stem slightly 

 divided ; lower leaves distant, ovato-lanceolate, upper spathulate 

 erecto-patent, sharply toothed ; nerve ceasing below the tip ; 



