42 PATAGONIAN EXPEDITIONS: BOTANY. 



Stems 1-2 cm. long, 0.2 mm. wide ; leaves 0.85 mm. long and wide, 

 leaf cells averaging 46 /JL long, 14 fi wide. 



Villarino Bay. 



The leaves of the present species are so copiously and finely dissected 

 that the plant remains one at first glance of a Trichocolea, but the scanty 

 branching, the dark color and the occasional rhizoids would seem to remove 

 it from that genus. The somewhat problematical T. polyacantha (Hook. 

 f. & Tayl.) from New Zealand might, nevertheless, seem from the pub- 

 lished descriptions and figures 1 to be identical with our species, but a 

 study of the type material in the Taylor Herbarium shows conclusively 

 that this curious plant is distinct not only from Blepharostoma pilosum 

 but also from B. quadripartitum (Hook.) Trevis., of which Schiffner 2 has 

 considered it a possible synomym. The New Zealand species is distin- 

 guished at once by the numerous paraphylla which clothe the stem and 

 give it a hirsute appearance ; they are minute structures, composed of only 

 2-4 cells and are either simple or forked, their cells, like those of the 

 leaves, being minutely verruculose. Whether the plant is really a 

 Trichocolea or not can hardly be settled without a larger supply of 

 material, as the true nature of the involucre cannot be made out with- 

 out dissection. 



In the remarks which supplement Mr. Pearson's description of BlepJtaro- 

 stoma palmatmn Lindb., 3 a statement is made which would seem to indi- 

 cate that B. pilosum (or some closely allied plant) has sometimes been in- 

 cluded under B. quadripartitum. The specimens listed below agree closely 

 with authentic specimens of this latter species in the Taylor Herbarium 

 and also with a drawing in the Sullivant collection made from material 

 collected on the Wilkes Expedition. The main differences between the 

 two are the following : B. quadripartitiim is smaller than B. pilosum, and 

 its smaller leaves are less deeply parted (about ^ ), the undivided basal 

 part being about 6 cells across ; the leaf-cells are shorter ; the leaf-seg- 

 ments are either entire (on slender branches) or sparingly toothed, there 

 being only 1-3 pairs of teeth for each segment, except on the leaf-mar- 

 gins, where there may be i or 2 extra ones ; the teeth are always short 

 and simple ; even on the bracts, where the teeth of the segments are often 



'Lond. Jour. Bot. 3 : 290. 1844. Fl. Ant. i : i6i.//. 6j./. g. 1844. 

 2 Lebermoose der Forschungsreise S. M. S. " Gazelle," 19. 1890. 

 'Jour. Bot. 25 : 193-195. //. 275. 1887. 



