374 HEPATIC^. 



Obs. — The history of this hepatic is somewhat curious. Nees, 

 in his admirable "Nat. Eur. Leb.," vol. 11, p. 453, speaks of 

 a form of Jimgermania scalaris (var. minor) which ma}^ prove to be 

 a distinct species and to which he would give the name Jim^. 

 hamatosticta. To this Professor Lindberg referred the Jlicidaria 

 geoscyphu8 of de Notaris. Herr Limpricht objects to the name as 

 being inappropriate, for the plant varies very much in colour, 

 according to exposure, shade, &c., and he promotes Nees' varietal 

 name minor to specific rank. 



To a large, suberect form of this. Professor Lindberg has given 

 the name var. subereda, which he had previously supposed to be 

 the Jmiff. scalaris var. repanda, Hliben., and as such published it 

 as Nardia repanda, but an examination of Hlibener's original speci- 

 mens showing it to be dioicous, the species repanda was dropped. 



In 1869 Herr Jack forwarded to Dr. Gottsche specimens of this 

 var. subereda under the name Sarcoscijphus aiioiualus, which the 

 Doctor published in G. R. Hep. Eur n. 470 as Jnug. Silvrettce ; as 

 the specific name of Herr Jack is used for another hepatic, I 

 adopt Gottsche's name, which should have priority over the others, 

 if we raise it to the rank of a species. 



A peculiarity about this species is that the stem is slightly 

 frontally compressed, not laterally as in Nardia com^wessa and 

 partially in N. scalaris. Transverse sections cut from all my 

 specimens give 12 cells x 9 or 10. 



Distinguished from Nardia scalaris (Schrad.) by its paroicous 

 inflorescence, and the emarginate leaves and bracts. 



Nardia geoscyplia (de Not.), of which I have not seen British 

 specimens, agrees with this species in its inflorescence, but is 

 much smaller, has a curious creeping habit, is without stipules, 

 and the bracts are not so irregularly margined. 



Description of Plate CLXII. — Fig. 1. Plants natural size 

 2, 3. Stems x 16 (Thed. Muse. Suec. Ex. n. 136). 4. Cross- 

 section of stem X 31 (Todmorden, G. A. Holt). 5, 7. Leaves 

 X 24 (Baildon, W. West). 6, 8-10. Ditto x 24 (Todmorden, 

 Holt). 11. Portion of leaf x 290 (ditto). 12, 13, 15, 16. 

 Stipules X 85 (ditto). 14. Ditto x 85 (Baildon, West). 17. 



