AND HEPATICOLOGY OF NORTH AMERICA. 171 



3. FISSIDENS RAVENELII (sp. nov.) : dioica; caule declinato simplici miniino; foliis 8- 



16, (in caule sterili 18-20,) inferioribus parvulis ascendendo sensim majoribus, su- 

 premis linearibus acutis conniventibus ad medium usque conduplicatis, lamina 

 immarginata toto ambitu subtilissime denticulata, floralium duplicaturse marginibus 

 limbatis repando-dentatisque, costa pellucida cum apice desinente instructis, densis- 

 sime minuteque subquadrato-areolatis, siccis guttulatis ; capsula erecta in pedicello 

 sinistrorsum torto ovali-oblonga subpapulosa, peristomii dentibus dense trabeculatis, 

 operculo conico-rostrato, calyptra conica uno latere fissa : flore masculo terminali. 



HAB. Detected, March, 1847, by H. W. Ravenel, Esq., on damp ground near the 

 Santee Canal, South Carolina. Also at Society Hill, South Carolina, by Rev. M. A. 

 Curtis. 



A very distinct and well-marked species, nearly related to F. exiguus, Sulliv., and 

 F. Bloxami, Wils. The former of these two species is known by the looser and larger 

 reticulation and the entire margin of its broader leaf; in the latter species, the want of 

 a bordering to the margins of the duplicature, the vanishing of the dorsal ala considerably 

 above the base of the leaf, and the position of the gemmiform male flower, are good dis- 

 tinctive marks. The protuberance of the outer cells of the capsule in the present spe- 

 cies does not occur in the others above named. In F. Ravenelii, male and female 

 gemmae are occasionally met with in the axils of the lateral leaves of what in other 

 species are considered infertile fronds. These gemmae, upon the decay of the parent 

 stock, become perfect plants. The same mode of propagation occurs in F. bryoides, 

 Hedw. 



TAB. II. Fig. 1. Plant of the natural size. 2, 3, 4. The same, magnified. 5. Calyptra. 6. Cap- 

 sule. 7. Tooth of the peristome, and spores. 8. The operculum. 9. A perigonial leaf. 10. Male gem- 

 ma. 11. Antheridia. 12. A portion of the duplicature of a leaf. 13. Leaf of male gemma. 14. A portion 

 of the lamina of a leaf. All except fig. 1 magnified. 



4. BRYUM LESCURIANUM (sp. nov.) : dioicum, humile, laxe ceespitosum, viridi-lutescens 



(nullo rubore tinctum); caule simplici declinato terra semisepulto 4-6 lin. longo; 

 foliis erecto-patentibus, inferioribus oblongo-lanceolatis, comalibus perichaetialibus- 

 que inulto longioribus linearibus acuminatis, omnibus apice plus minus serratis 

 medio margine reflexis densius lineari-areolatis, costa valida ad apicem usque pro- 

 ducta ; capsula ovali subpyriformi in pedicello i-1 unciali basi geniculato flexuoso 



