CRYPTOGAMIA MUSCI. 33 



is a beautiful species, and grows in large matted tufts, of 

 a very dark green on the surface, but always stained un- 

 derneath with an ochrey yellow. The petrified moss, so 

 abundant in this neighbourhood, is a tuft of H. commuta- 

 tum, encrusted and solidified by a deposition of the lime 

 from the water in which it grows. It delights to hang 

 over the precipitous front of dripping rocks, or of small 

 cascades, whose waters strain themselves through the dense 

 and plumy foliage as through a sponge. LEYDEN must 

 have had it in view when he wrote of the " listless shep- 

 herd" 



" His is the lulling music of the rills, 

 Where, drop by drop, the scanty current spills 

 Its waters o'er the shelves that wind across, 

 Or filters through the yellow, hairy moss." 



33. H. aduncum, stems erect, irregularly pinnate ; leaves lan- 

 ceolate, much acuminated, sickle-shaped, entire, the nerve dis- 

 appearing beyond the middle ; fruitstalks 2 inches ; capsule ob- 

 long-ovate, curved ; lid conical. 



Hob. Bogs and wet places, common. Winter. 



34. H. flwtans, stems slender, elongate, somewhat pinnate ; 

 branches very short ; leaves rather distant, long and flexuose 

 when dry, lanceolate-subulate, sickle-shaped, nerved, entire ; 

 " capsule ovate-oblong, curved, cernuous ; lid conical." 



Hob. In moss pools on the Lammermuirs, not common, 

 nor in fruit. 



35. H. palustre, stems creeping, matted; branches numerous 

 erect, with curved tips ; leaves ovate-acute, entire, slightly curved, 

 the nerve variable in length, and sometimes wanting ; capsule 

 oblong-ovate, sub-erect ; lid conical. 



Hob. On wet, stony, and gravelly places on moors, and by 

 the sides of rivulets, common. Winter. 



36. H. uncinatum, f stems creeping, matted, pinnate; leaves 

 sickle-shaped, lanceolate-subulate, very obscurely serrated, striate, 

 the nerve disappearing below the point ; fruitstalks an inch ; cap- 

 sule cylindraceous, arched, cernuous ; lid conical. 



Hab. On moist walls, not common. At the road-side above 

 Greenlaw, plentiful. Winter, 



B3 



