MOSSES 49 



long, slender veil, are familiar objects in the 

 autumn, growing in the shade of a roadside which 

 is overhung by trees, or in the depths of the 

 woods; and in the early spring these same cap- 

 sules, which will then have turned a deep brown, 

 may be seen, either packed with spores, or like 

 so many delicate empty urns. Fig. 20 of the 

 same plate is another instance of a similar form ; 

 it is the capsule of the Marsh Fork-moss (Dicra- 

 num palustre), which, as its name implies, in- 

 habits marshes and other moist situations. 



At fig. 21 of Plate III. is a capsule which is 

 characteristic of the larger forms, such as those 

 which are met with in the Bryum and Mnium 

 families. It belongs to the moss known as the 

 Swan-neck Thyme Thread-moss (Mnium hornum), 

 a name undoubtedly suggested by the peculiar 

 bend of the fruit-stalk. This moss grows in the 

 greatest profusion in the shady recesses of the 

 woods, often carpeting the banks and the roots 

 of the trees with a thick covering, the bright 

 golden green of which is then especially refresh- 

 ing to the eye. It is then, too, that the plant 

 forms its fruit, which is constantly produced in 

 great abundance, the beautiful golden-brown cap- 

 sules, each at the end of a gracefully curving 

 stalk, making a striking contrast to the sea of 

 green from which they rise; indeed, common as 

 this capsule is, it always rivets the attention, 

 not only on account of its size, but also by reason 



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