BRITISH MOSSES. 



Drv. I. SCHISTOCARPI. 



(CAPSULE OPENING WITH LONGITUDINAL CLEFTS.) 



I. ANDREA. 



GEN. CHAR. Capsule four-valved, the valves cohering at the 

 extremity by means of the persistent lid ; Calyptra ir- 

 regularly torn, (TAB. I.) 



THIS curious genus, confined wholly, we believe, to the more 

 alpine parts of Europe, has some striking points in common with 

 the Jtmgermannice, particularly in its four-valved capsule and 

 irregularly torn calyptra ; thus, as it were, connecting the Hepatica 

 with the Musci. The Capsule has, however, a central columella, 

 and is terminated hy an evident, though persistent operculum. 

 That part which has been considered by most authors as the seta 

 or fruitstalk, is in fact nothing more than an elongated receptacle 

 (as may be seen by our figure), upon which are observable pistils, 

 and from the summit of which, at the very base of the capsule, the 

 calyptra has its origin. Thus is the capsule of Andrcea truly 

 sessile, and the genus on that account takes a place near the 

 Sphagna., among the Mosses, where we shall find the receptacle 

 to be equally lengthened into an apparent pedicel, its flat dilated 

 extremity bearing not only the capsule, but also the barren pistils. 



All the species (and Britain possesses the whole of them) are 

 remarkable for their dark brown or almost black colour, when 

 seen in a mass ; for each leaf, taken separately, when held up 

 between the eye and the light, exhibits the most rich orange- 

 brown hue ; the texture is membranaceous and very compact ; two, 

 out of four species, are furnished with a nerve ; the other two are 



destitute of nerve. 



A 





