HANDBOOK OF I'.RI'IfSFr FJKI'ATIC/K. 



163 



hcpatics, or forming dense fasciculate palclies of .1 

 dark i^reen colour. Stems about as 

 thick as horse-hair, purplish black, 

 rigid, polished, but flexuous ; shoots 

 i to I inch, rarely 2 inches, long ; 

 branches alternate, divaricate, of 

 nearly uniform size. Leaves dis- 

 tant, alternate, distichous, obovate, 

 or wedge-shaped, contracted and 

 scarcely decurrent at the base (fig. 116), bidentatc 

 at the apex, terminal leaves 

 only are erect, dark olive or 

 indigo-green, blackish when 

 dry. Amphigastria gener- 

 ally present, minute, distant, 

 bidentate. Andraicium spi- 

 cate, ovate. Perigonial leaves 

 three to six pairs, larger than 

 those of the stem, closely 

 imbricate, with many teeth. 

 Antheridia one or two, pale 

 olive yellow. Cells larger 

 than in Plagiochila spinulosa 

 (fig. 115). 



" This appears to be a 

 very distinct species. The 

 shoots are flagelliform, 116. 



nearly equal throughout, stems black and rigid, 

 leaves distant, patent, wedge-shaped, from a 

 narrow basis, easily detached, usually bidentate 

 at the apex, with an obtuse sinus." 



Plag-iochila exigua, TayL 

 Stem filiform, serpentine, leaves vertical, 



M 2 



