22 MOSSES AND LIVERWORTS 



yellowish-green in colour, and those at the 

 extreme tips of the stem and branches closely 

 overlap one another, thus forming a somewhat 

 bud-like point, which constitutes a very char- 

 acteristic feature of the plant. The Fountain 

 Apple-moss (Philonotis fontana), with its bright 

 crimson stem, and light green foliage, seems to 

 prefer the wettest of wet places, and on the 

 margins of a mountain stream, or close to the 

 place where a spring bubbles up on the hillside, 

 we may often see it in great abundance. 



Trunks of trees not unf requently afford quarters 

 for some very interesting plants, and a good deal 

 of moss-lore may be picked up from them by the 

 use of an ordinary hand magnifying-glass. In 

 such positions, for instance, may be seen many 

 of the members of the Bristle-moss family 

 (Orthotrichum), the spore-vessels of which some- 

 times nearly buried in the surrounding dark green 

 leaves, and in other cases rising above them offer, 

 as we shall have occasion to note hereafter, several 

 specially noteworthy features. The Bent-leaved 

 Weisia (J)icranoweisia cirrata), which generally 

 grows in compact, cushion-like masses, and often, 

 in the winter, produces abundance of fruit, and 

 the Green-tufted Yoke-moss (Zygodon viridissimus), 

 which also forms closely packed tufts of pale green 

 plants, are two further instances of tree-growing 

 mosses. 



Thatched roofs, when a friendly ladder is at 



