LIVERWORTS 113 



generally in damp and shady corners, and, though 

 by no means widely distributed, is often very 

 abundant in localities which happen to be specially 

 favourable to its development. 



The Hair-leaved Liverwort (Blepharostoma 

 trichophyllum, fig. 10) is somewhat rare, though, 

 possibly owing to its minute proportions, fre- 

 quently overlooked, for to the unassisted eye it 

 simply has the appearance of a piece of fine 

 cotton ; and, as it is generally to be found creep- 

 ing among mosses, a good deal of careful searching 

 is requisite in order to discover it. It would be 

 difficult to imagine anything more beautiful in 

 its way than a frond of this plant in the micro- 

 scope, with a moderately low-power lens, and a 

 black background, the delicate silver tracery of 

 the stem and its tiny, bristle-like leaves being 

 thrown up in strong relief by contrast with the 

 dark surroundings. The plant given at fig. 11, 

 the Crenulated Liverwort (Jungermannia crenu- 

 lata), has very markedly round leaves, though 

 why this special name should have been bestowed 

 upon it is difficult to say. It grows in wet, 

 sheltered places, often choosing a heavy clay soil. 

 I have seen the bank by the roadside in one of 

 the Somersetshire combes quite thickly covered 

 for some little distance with matted tufts of its 

 pale green fronds. Under the microscope, or 

 even with a strong magnifying-glass, it may easily 

 be distinguished from all the other round-leaved 



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