NO. 2 MOSSES OF AFRICAN EXPEDITION — DIXON 1 5 



Negri's description and figure, though drawn from sterile plants, 

 leave no doubt in my mind that this is the same species. Brotherus 

 has already recorded the fruiting plant from Ruwenzori (i). Nos. 

 1579, 1596, and 1597 are, I believe, the male plant, though I have 

 not been able actually to find antheridia, owing perhaps to the 

 season at which they were gathered. These agree exactly with 

 Negri's description, and are very marked by the erect, almost 

 appressed leaves when moist, these usually very concave and there- 

 fore appearing pointed, and with the nerve only very shortly excur- 

 rent, so as to form a scarcely cuspidate point. They are, however, 

 rather broadly oblong-spatulate when flattened out, and though leaves 

 occur as narrow as that figured by Negri (5a), table 1, fig. S, I 

 should not consider this the most typical form. 



The fruiting plant, however, presents some differences. It is 

 usually more luxuriant, with larger leaves, more flexuose and twisted 

 when dry, many of them, especially the conal ones, bearing a rather 

 long, smoothish, hyaline hair-point. The seta is rather short for the 

 size of the plant, about I cm. long, twisted strongly in the negative 

 direction ; * the capsule is about 3 mm. long without, 4.5 mm. with 

 the lid, usually rather elliptic-cylindric than quite cylindric, and 

 often slightly curved ; the peristome tube appears to be about half 

 the length of the whole. The perichaetial leaves are well differenti- 

 ated, very long, gradually tapering to a long, colored arista, the whole 

 reaching frequently to one-third the height of the seta. 



The more robust plants reach a height of 10 cm., but the plants are 

 often very short, dense, and compact. They sometimes occur on 

 charred wood. 



GRIMMIACEAE 



GRIMMIA OVATA Web. & Mohr 

 Grimmia calyculata C. M. Flora 73: 484. 1890. 



Loc. 3,630 meters, Nos. 1552, 1582, 1585, 1586, 1589; all c. fr. 

 Somewhat varying in size and in length of capsule and lid. Grimmia 

 calyculata C. M. is without doubt founded on one of the smaller 

 forms of this. 2 



1 1 use the term " positive " for a spiral that twists in the direction in which 

 the hands of a watch move, negative for the reverse direction. 



2 C. Muller describes Grimmia calyculata n. sp. twice over, in Flora, 1888, 

 p. 414, and again, Flora, 1890, p. 484. It is by no means clear whether he 

 intends to describe two species or whether they are actually identical ; in any 

 case the second is G. ovata Web. & Mohr. 



