MOSSES 15 



without the aid of moisture, and to be able to revive 

 when the first shower of rain comes to bring the 

 means of subsistence on which they must in the 

 end depend. Plate II. fig. 3 is a diminutive moss 

 known as the Slender Beardless Moss (Weisia 

 tenuis] that may sometimes be met with on sand- 

 stone rocks and walls, covering the face with what 

 would appear to the casual observer as a green 

 film of vegetable growth, unless indeed the plants 

 should happen to be in fruit, when the tiny spore- 

 vessels will show that there is something of 

 special interest to attract the attention. Under 

 the microscope this little moss forms a beautiful 

 object, with its small strap-shaped leaves, and 

 soft green colouring. Plate II. fig. 8 is another 

 small moss that grows in the cracks and crannies 

 of rocks, usually in fairly high localities. 



Walls, whether of stone or brick, are favourite 

 haunts for many of the commoner kinds, as 

 well as for some that are rarer; the cracks and 

 holes in the stones, and in the mortar between 

 the bricks, provide them with a firm anchorage, 

 while the top of the wall, which offers a still 

 more secure vantage-ground, will often be more 

 or less covered with soft, round cushions of moss, 

 formed of small colonies of plants tightly packed 

 together ; and these cushions will, at certain 

 seasons of the year, bristle with numerous bright 

 red or yellow stalks, each surmounted by a tiny 

 spore-vessel, the crystal beads of dew or rain, 



