32 HANDBOOK OF MOSSES. 



ment of the stem, they appear to arise from amidst the 

 confervoid mass above mentioned, and seem at first sight to 

 have no leaves. 



Dry banks in maritime situations should be searched for 

 the somewhat rare Tortula atro-virens . The stems are 

 short, forming dense tufts. The leaves are broad, concave, 

 with a slight point, and slightly spreading when moist, con- 

 torted or twisted when dry. The most noticeable feature 

 is the strong, spongy leaf-nerve, curiously thickened in the 

 upper part. The fruit-stalk is terminal, short, capsule oval, 

 shining, lid slightly beaked, peristome single, of sixteen teeth. 

 Fruiting in March. 



Marly banks will also yield Camptotherium lutescens, a 

 fine moss, growing in rather loose yellowish-green or fulvous 

 masses. Stems more or less prostrate, branched and spread- 

 ing ; leaves bright yellowish-green, loosely imbricated, lance- 

 shaped, rigid, and strongly striated. The fruit-stalk is lateral, 

 and more or less covered with little prominences. Capsule 

 slightly curved, and lid somewhat beaked. Fruit rare ; April. 



Anomodon viticulosum (fig. 37), mostly occurring in marly 

 soils, will be found covering tree roots or outcropping rocks 

 with dense masses of verdigris green. The leaves are blunt, 

 imbricated on all sides, slightly spreading when moist, much 

 curled and twisted when dry, and turning yellowish when 

 old. The fruit is rare, but will be found most frequently 

 where the plant has a good supply of moisture. The fruit- 

 stalk is lateral, and the fruit will be found about November. 



Tortula aloides and T. ambigua frequently occur together 

 on marly and clayey banks. They are very closely alike, 

 and can only be separated by careful examination of minute 

 details, but may be known from other species occurring in 

 like habitats by the short stem, dark-green, somewhat fleshy 

 leaves, with the margins very much incurved. The capsule 

 is cylindrical and erect in ambigua, and slightly inclined in 

 aloides. The fringe is only slightly twisted. 



Banks in calcareous and chalky districts will yield many 

 of the foregoing species, but will also have among its deni- 

 zens species peculiar to such soils. Such as the Selegerias, 

 Eucladium verticillatum, Encalypta vulgaris^ Grimmia 



