330 



SPLACHNEI. 



PAET II. 



account of their large leaves and beautiful double- 

 toothed peristome, the great distinction of the group. 

 The leaves are margined, toothed, and composed of a 

 loose reticulation of large rhomboidal cells ; in the 

 genus Timmia they clasp the stem at the base and 

 spread widely at the tip. There are thirty-three 

 British species of the genus Bryum, many of which 

 with their abundant urns are extremely ornamental. 



Fig. 50. Microscopic structure of leaves of mosses : a, Octoblepharum albidum ; 

 6, Leucobryum glaucum ; c, Sphagnum latifolium ; d, Hypopterygium Smithianum ; 

 e, Eucamptodon perichsetialis ; /, Andraea subulata; g, Campylopus lamellinervis. 



The tribe Splachnei contain many of the most sin- 

 gular and beautiful of the whole class of mosses. They 

 have large-celled diaphanous leaves and a straight urn, 

 with the spores radiating from the columella. The urn 

 has a swelling at its base, often of greater dimensions 

 than the urn itself. In the Splachnum vasculosum it 

 is purple and very large, but nothing in comparison of 

 that organ in S. luteum and rubrum, which are the 

 pride of hyperborean Europe and America. The enor- 

 mous size of the swelling, the variety of colouring, 

 the singularity and elegance of form, and in some 

 cases the unusual dimensions, make the species objects 



