190 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH HEPATIC^. 



ing, or rather ascending, nearly plane, or rarely 

 concave, oval, or quadrate, entire, minutely reticu- 

 late, the lower lunately, the upper deeply and ob- 

 tusely emarginate, two or three toothed, with 

 rather obtuse, unequal laciniae. Bracts wedge- 

 shaped, at the base convolute, and mostly connate, 

 spreading at the apex, plane, palmately trifid, with 

 the laciniae bifid, bracteoles small, linear, subulate, 

 bifid or trifid. Perianth oval, plicate above, mouth 

 denticulate. Stipules absent. — {Plate 4., fig. 55.) 



Jungermannia excisa, Dicks. 



Stem prostrate, simple ; leaves accumbent, 

 subquadrate, lunately marginate ; perichaetial 

 leaves subtrifid, plicate; stipules none; peri- 

 anth terminal, cylindrical, plicate ; mouth 

 open, dentate, coloured. 



Jungermannia excisa, Dicks. Crypt. III., t. 

 8, f. 7; G. L. and N. Syn. p. 112; Spruce 

 Trans. Bot. Soc. Edin. III., p. 206. 



This species has long been a mystery, apart from 

 Dickson's figure. Spruce wrote in 1849: "I fear 

 J. excisa, Dicks, t. 8, f. 7, will have to be entirely 

 erased from the list of Hepatic^. I have spent much 

 time in the attempt to ascertain what it really is, 

 but without success, &c." Subsequently Dr. Car- 

 rington wrote: " I quite concur with Mr. Spruce that 

 we have no such British species as J. excisa^ He 

 proceeds to enumerate, as Spruce had previously 

 done, the varieties of other species, which were 

 supposed to be referable to J. excisa. — (Trans. Bot. 

 Ed. VII., p. 448.) 



