232 



HANDBOOK OF BRITISH HEPATIC^. 



Nardia (Southbya) obovata, Nees. 



Stems ascending ; leaves rounded, obovate, 

 emarginate, saccate at the base, squarrosely 

 spreading, alternate, involucral opposite. 



fungermannia obovata, Nees Eur. Leb. L, 

 332 ; Carr. Trans. Bot. Soc. Edin. VII., 

 p. 447, t. xi., f. i. ; Gott. and Rabh. Exs. 

 266, 352 ; Cooke Hep. f. 62. Southbya 

 obovata, Dumort. Hep. Eur. p. 123. 



Forming compact tufts on damp rocks, of a deep 

 green colour. (Fr. Early Sum.) 



Primary stems stout, herbaceous, creeping. Fertile 

 shoots erect, simple, or innovant from below the 

 apex, ^ to i inch long, clothed 

 on the under side with purplish 

 rootlets. Leaves rather distant, 

 subvertical, distichous, spread- 

 ing, roundish or ovate, upper 

 half plane or recurved, margin 

 entire, deep green, sometimes 

 tinged with brown or purple 

 (fig. 159). Inflorescence paroi- 

 cous. Involucral leaves two 

 pairs, larger than the ordinary 

 ones, upper pair equal, obovate, 

 nearly opposite, and connate 

 for more than half their length, 

 spreading at the apex. One 

 or two amphigastria attached to 

 involucral walls, but absent 

 elsewhere. Perianth obovate- 

 obJong, upper third free and 



