16 



MOSSES WITH A HAND-LENS 



THE LONG-NECKED MOSS 



THE Long-necked Moss is so odd in appearance that it will 

 need little description. It is not common but will be met 

 with occasionally in rather dry soil in copses and old fields 

 where the grass is thin. Besides the long neck, the bright yellow 

 setee. closely resembling those of the Yellow Ditrichum, are an 

 r j ^ ^-r— additional aid in identification. The cap- 



sules mature in summer. 



Fig. ii. Trematodon a?n- 

 biguus x i, and capsule 



xs- 



Besides the Long-necked Moss de- 

 scribed above [Trematodon ambfguus 

 (Hedw.) Hornsch.] there is another 

 species ( T. longicollis) that may be 

 found in the southern portion of our 

 range. 



D 



PLEURIDIUM 



The Common Pleuridium [P. subulatum (L.) Rabenh.] 



OWN among the tufts of 

 grass in dry and sandy 

 fields in early spring, one 

 can find soft silky tufts of green 

 containing innumerable little 

 green spheres like emerald dew 

 drops. These green spheres are 

 the capsules nestling among the 

 leaves because of the shortness of 

 the setae. 



The drawing can give no idea 

 of the beauty of a dense tuft sev- 

 eral inches square, fresh from the 

 fields, wet with the spring snows 

 and rains. 



This moss is common in sandy 

 localities near the coast, but much 

 uYf less frequent inland. 



There is another similar species 

 that may be met with, but which 



Fig. „. Pleuridium subulatum one wiU need a compound micro- 

 X 10, and leaf x 20. scope to distinguish, 



