CORD-MOSS 103 



If you put some fruiting plants in a jar or deep saucer, covered 

 with a sheet of glass, you will probably see, in a day or two, loose 

 lids on the under side of the glass. 



The rest of the mosses may be roughly divided into two sets, 

 which we may study separately, choosing a few of the commonest 

 kinds only for there are more than five hundred distinct kinds 

 (species) of mosses in this country. 



In the first set the stem is erect, and usually not much branched, 

 and the fruit is produced at the top. The tendency to upward 

 growth results in the formation of tufts or cushions, while the 

 " top-fruiting " prevents further growth of the main stem itself, 

 and therefore new branches are formed below the fruit. Brownish 

 threads arise from the base of the stem, and fix the plant to the 

 soil, but most of the water which a moss needs is absorbed by 

 the leaves as rain or dew, and we find among mosses various 

 adaptations for holding water by capillary attraction between 

 the leaves, and in other ways. 



The common Cord-Moss (Funaria) is a good type to study, 

 because it produces its fruits all the year round. It grows on 

 walls, heaths, and banks, and you are almost sure to find it 

 wherever the soil has been burnt, also on old cinder-heaps and 

 paths, forming bright yellowish-green patches. The stems are 

 only about half an inch high ; the lower ends give off a felted 

 mass of brown rooting-hairs, the pointed leaves (thin, but with 

 a distinct central vein) are scattered over the lower part of the 

 stem, but at the top they form a swollen tuft or bud. The fruit, 

 when ripe or nearly so, consists of a reddish stalk (i to 2j inches 

 long), bearing at its bent upper end a pear-shaped and lopsided 

 capsule. The capsule is green at first, and bears a scaly cap with a 

 long point, but later it turns brown and the cap falls off. Look 

 for very young fruits ; they are long and tapering, and the scaly 

 cap is swollen out below, the swelling containing water which 

 keeps the young capsule (at this stage a rod-like body) from 

 drying. As the young fruit grows the envelope breaks across, 

 part of it being carried up to form the cap, while the lower part 

 remains as a cup round the base of the stalk. At the free end 

 of the ripe capsule there is a round lid, placed obliquely, which 

 falls off eventually, but the mouth of the capsule, instead of being a 



