2gg MUSCI. Ejilumerum. 



1. EPHEMERUM, iranii.e. 



Ver}' minute gregarious aniuuils, on bare iLunp earth ; tihuueiitou.s i)rothallus jxir- 

 sistent, erect and much branched ; stem very short, sinqjle. Leaves soft, ovate to 

 oblong-lanceolate, coarsely serrate or incised ; areolation loose, rhombic-hexagonal. 

 Male plants near the base of the somewhat larger female and upon the same prothal- 

 lus, of 3 or 4 leaves and bud-like, with a few minute oblong antheridia, deciduous 

 at maturity. Calyi)tra thin, campanulate, incised at base. Capsule immersed or 

 emergent, subsessile, acuminate-ovate or globose, without columella. Spores not 

 many, large, reniform. 



Eight species are i'ouiul in Europe and North America. 



1. E. serratum, Ilampe. Prothallus deep green, dense and velvety : stem with 

 long rootlets : lower leaves ovate, acuminate, ecostate, much smaller than the long- 

 lanceolate upper ones ; teeth usually spreading or recurved : capsule subglobose, 

 shortly acuminate, brownish purple, shining: spores 50 to 100, ferruginous. — 

 Bruch & Schimp. Eryol. Eur. t. 1 ; Schimp. Syn. 2 ed. t. 1. J'hasctnn serratum, 

 Schreb. Phase. 9, t. 2 ; AVilson, Eryol. ]5rit. t. .'J ; Sulliv. in Gray's :Manual, 2 ed. 614. 



Ill lields aud meadows, Mission Dolores {Bolandcr) ; also in tiie Athintic States and tlironghoiit 

 Europe. 



2. SPHiERANGIUM, Schimp. 



With nearly the habit of Epliemernm, the prothallus often absent : leaves of 

 firmer texture, imbricate, ovate to ovate-oblong or obovate, concave or carinate, cos- 

 tate, minutely papillose toward the apex and the areolation closer than below ; 

 chlorophyll scanty or wanting. Calyptra minute, mitriform, irregularly circumscis- 

 sile at base, very fugaceous. Capsule immersed, erect on a short pedicel or subpcn- 

 dulous, globose, shining, brownish-orange ; culumella present, thickish. Spores 

 subglobose. — Acaulon, Jiluell. 



Four species.aie known, two of Europe and the Athintic States, one Texan, and one Australian. 

 1. S. muticum, Schimp. Bud-like, the fruiting plant oblong-conical, pale or 

 brownish : lower leaves ovate-acuminate, more or less recurved, the middle ovate- 

 oblong, recurved-acuminate, not carinate, nnicronate with the excurrent costa, the 

 upper 2 (or 3) infolding each other, often deeply erose at the apex, 3 times longer 

 than the erect orange-colored capsule. — Syn. Muse. Eur. 2 ed. 13, t. 1 ; Bruch it 

 Schimp. Bryol. Eur. t. 4. Phascum muticum, Schreb. Phase. 8, t. 1, fig. 11, 12. 

 Acaxdon muticum, Muell. ; Sulliv. & Lesq. Muse. Am.-]>or. Exsicc. 2 ed. n. 32. 



At Mission Dolores, with the last {Bolandcr) ; Atlantic States, Europe and South Africa. 



S. TRIQITETKUM, Scliimp., if it occurs in California, may be distinguished by its 3-ianked cari- 

 nate leaves, the perichietial always 3, and the capsule iiovizontal upon the curved jiedicel. The 

 Atlantic Slates form is said to be intcMnediate between the two. 



3. PHASCUM, Linn. 

 Stouter than the preceding, rarely annual and usually reproduced from the base, 

 growing on the ground, the proj^hallu.s soon disajipearing. Stem simple or 2-3- 

 parted. Leaves rather firm, costate, broadly lanceolate, entire ; areolation below 

 loose, oblong and hyaline, minutely subquadrate and chlorophyllose above. Male 

 flowers at the base of the stem or branches, with 1 to .several perigonial leaves. 

 Calyptra cucullate. Capsule shortly pedicellate, subglobo.se to ovate-oblong, a])icu- 

 late or beaked, with free sporangium and i)ersistent columella. Spores smaller. 



