FOSSOMBRONIA. 425 



Androecia usually situated below the perianth, exposed or in the 

 axil of the bracts, or more rarely on separate plants. 



Dimensions. — Stem J inch long x 1* mm. to 2* mm. wide ; 

 leaves 175 mm. x 1* mm., 1-5 mm. x 1* mm. ; bracts 1'75 mm. 

 X 1'5 mm., 1*5 mm. x 15 mm. ; perianth 1*75 mm. x 15 mm. 

 wide at the mouth ; calyptra '75 mm. x '4 mm. ; spores "04 mm., 

 "045 mm. ; elaters "2 mm, x '015 mm. 



Hab. — On bare damp soil. Very rare. 



5. Kugeley, Staffordshire, Bev. H. P. Header. 12. Whit- 

 barrow, Westmorland, G. Stabler. 



Found on the Continent, Algeria, Madeira, Teneriffe, and 

 Abyssinia. 



Obs. — Rather smaller than the other species with a more 

 compact lettuce-like habit, spores with numerous blunt spines ; 

 the rootlets are not so deep purple as in the other species. 



Description of Plate CLXXXYII. — Fig. 1. Plants natural 

 size. 2, 3. Cross-sections of stem x 24 (Whitbarrow, Stabler). 

 4, 5. Leaves x ? (Algiers Herb. Tindall). 6. Leaf x 16 (Whit- 

 barrow, Stabler). 7. Portion of leaf x 290 (G-. & R. n. 377). 

 8. Bracts x 16 (ditto). 9, 10. Bracts x 16 (Whitbarrow, 

 Stabler). 11. Perianth x ? (Algeria, Herb. Tindall). 12. Ditto, 

 explanate x 16 (Whitbarrow, Stabler). 13. Calyptra x 24 

 (ditto). 14. Spore x 400 (Corbiere). 15. Ditto (Lindberg). 

 16. Ditto X 290 (G. & ZX. n. 377). 



f. Papilhe long, hispid. 



6. Fossombronia Mittenii, TindaU. 



Fossomhronia Mittenii, Tindall, " Journal of Botany," Feb. 1898. 



Monoicous?, csespitose, small, bright yellowish-green in colour. 

 Stems simple, prostrate, creeping, fragile, radiculose ; rootlets 

 numerous, of medium length, bright reddish-purple in colour, 

 giving the stem the appearance of being purple throughout. 

 Leaves overlapping each other by about one- third of their breadth, 

 more crenulate than lobed, much crisped, slightly angled, the 



