46 MINNESOTA BOTANICAL STUDIES. 



stiimpflich, 1.8-2 mm. lang, und i mm. breit, am Rande 

 deroberen Blatt halfte ausgefressen-gezahnt, am Grunde, 

 an einer Seite eingeschlagen * * * Innerer Peristom 

 * * * in der linie ritzenformig durch brochen." 



Now in Macoun's Cat. of Can. PL, 4 (1892), p. 163, 

 the authors of Homalia 7nacounii, say of it: " V^ery 

 nearly allied to Homalia trichomanoides ; differs in the 

 leaves being longer, rather lingulate, the lowest basal 

 cells yellow, the perichaetial leaves more suddenly nar- 

 rowed to a very short acumen, the segments of the per- 

 istome cleft between the articulations." This is quite all 

 in the line of characterization. Among other localities 

 it is credited to Lake Superior, Drummond's specimens 

 having been collected there. 



Both from actual comparison and from the circum- 

 stance of locality, the Lake Superior plants collected by 

 me are reasonably referred to the same plants upon 

 which Homalia macoimii is founded. If this inference 

 is correct then the only valid part of the above statements, 

 which stand in place of description, is the first phrase 

 "very nearly allied to H. trichomanoides.'''' The leaf 

 length varies according to European authors themselves. 

 The "rather lingulate" form of outline is ascribed by 

 Limpricht to Homalia trichomanoides, when he makes the 

 leaves " zungen-messerformung," i. ^., " lingulate-cultri- 

 form." As to the " lowest basal cells yellow, the peri- 

 chsetial leaves more suddenly narrowed to a very short 

 acumen," my own close observations fail to verify these 

 two characters, which, if observed by the authors, must 

 have been purely accidental. And as for " the segments 

 of the peristome cleft between the articulations," this 

 character, judging both the European specimens actually 

 examined, and from the painstaking description of Ho- 

 malia trichomanoides made by European authors them- 

 selves, as seen from citations above, is unconditionally 

 conceded to belong to Homalia trichomanoides Br. The 

 only tangible difference, the slightly more obtuse leaves 

 it certainly has in common with Dr. James' own speci- 

 mens of Homalia jamesii. If now we turn to Lesq. and 

 James' Manual of Mosses of North America (1884), p. 

 285, we find not a single positive or new character as- 



