52 DICRANtJM. 



HAB. Moist banks. 



Plant from one half to three quarters of an inch in height, 

 root thickly tufted, and sending up many stems. Fruit at 

 the very base of the steins and from among the roots; en- 

 veloped at the base of the fruitstalk by a scaly perichsetium, 

 the leaves of which exactly resemble the last, and which also 

 throws out roots from its base. Is it not possible that on the 

 decay of the fructification this perichaetium may become a 

 perfect plant or frond ? And may not the perichaetium of 

 D. adiantoides possess the same property, whence the growth 

 of that plant by frequent innovations ? Fissidens subbasi- 

 laris of Hedwig is hardly to be distinguished from this. 



B. Leaves inserted on all sides of the stem. 

 a. Leaves destitute of a nerve. 



4. D. glaucum ; stems branched, fastigiate ; leaves erecto-pa- 



tent, ovato-lanceolate, straight, nerveless, entire ; capsule 

 ovate, cernuous; lid rostrate. (TAB. XVI.) 



D. glaucum. Hedw. Sp. Muse. Schwaegr. Suppl. t.28. Turn. Muse. 

 Hib.p. 73. Engl. Bot. t. 2166. Moug. et Nestl. n. 23. Bryum glau- 

 cum. Linn. Sp. PL Dill Muse. t. 46. f. 20. & t. 83. /. 8. 



HAB. On bogs and wet heaths. 



This species is remarkable for its having the habit and 

 nerveless reticulated leaves of a Sphagnum. The stems vary 

 considerably in length : American specimens are figured by 

 Dillenius, t. Ixxxiii. f. 8. ; and it appears to be extensively 

 scattered over the globe. 



b. Leaves furnished with a nerve. 

 * Leaves apiculate or piliferous. 



5. JD. latifolium; stems short; leaves oblong, concave, entire, 



apiculate or piliferous, capsule erect, ovato-oblong ; lid ro- 

 strate. (TAB. XVI.) 



D. latifolium. Hedw. St. Cr. v. I. t. 33. Turn. Muse. Hib. p. 79. 

 Bryum piliferum. Dicks. Trichostomumpiliferum. Engl. Bot. t. 2536. 



HAB. Banks in Ireland and Scotland, chiefly in moun- 

 tainous situations. 



Specimens of this plant from Le Jardin on the chain of 

 Mont Blanc, at an elevation of 8000 feet : those from 

 Kamtschatka and those from Greenland agree in having 

 shorter stems, yellower leaves, and pale-coloured narrower 

 capsules than our native specimens; others again, gathered 

 at an elevation of 6000 feet in the Swiss Alps, perfectly ac- 



