MOSSES 19 



Fallow-fields and bare ground would hardly, 

 one would think, have much to offer to the 

 moss-hunter, and yet in such places some of the 

 specially small and interesting species may be 

 met with. The little moss given at Plate II. 

 fig. 6, the Pointed Earth-moss (Phascum cuspida- 

 turn), is an instance in point ; it is so small, and 

 grows so close to the earth, that it will pass 

 unobserved unless a close watch is kept for it. 

 The tiny round spore-vessel, with the long, 

 narrow encircling leaves, forms an interesting 

 object under the microscope. A still smaller 

 relative of this moss, the Serrated Earth-moss 

 (Ephemerum serratum), also lives in fallow-fields, 

 and its discovery will well repay a careful search, 

 though from its very small size it is not easily 

 found ; for to the untrained eye, and without the 

 help of a magnifying-glass, a colony of these 

 little plants will only have the appearance of a 

 thin film of green scum. As we shall presently 

 see, it has an especial attraction for the moss- 

 student, owing to the fact that it affords a very 

 good illustration of the first stage of moss-growth. 

 The Common Pottia (Pottia truncatula), before 

 described, is also a constant dweller on the bare 

 ground of unsown fields, and many other mosses 

 could be named that frequent similar localities. 



Heaths and Commons are the abodes of some of 

 the more hardy kinds, which are not dependent 

 for their well-being on a moist atmosphere, but 



