50 BRITISH MOSSES. 



power of twenty, a single leaf with one of 200 ; but it would be worth while to 

 place a branch first under the lowest power of the instrument, and one by one to 

 add the higher, in order that the marvellous intricacy of the cell-patterns may be 

 gradually developed. Every additional power will reveal some fresh beauty. 



I. Leaves blunt {obtuse) or roundish; sometimes elliptical. 



Pig. 2. Sphagnum cYMBiroLiuM. 



Blunt-leaved Bog Moss. Rag Moss {a) . 



Colour. Whitish-brown, sometimes reddish or pm-plish. 



Stems. Thick, from a few inches to a foot in length ; branches thick, stout, in 



bunches (fascicles) of three to five. The cells of the branches (utricles) 



lined with spiral filaments. 

 Leaves (h) . Roundish egg-shaped (obovate) , with glands (papillce) at the 



back of the apex. 

 Flowers and Fruit. Dioicous. Capsules large and globular. 

 Locality. Bogs. Abundant. 



Fig. 3. Sphagnum compactum. 



Neat Bog Moss (a) . 

 Colour. Whitish-brown. 



Stems. Often forked (dichotomous) ; branches very crowded, of equal length 



(fastigiate) , apparently covering the whole stem. 

 Leaves (b) . Egg-shaped, with a blunt point (ovate-subulate) . 

 Flowers and Fruit. Dioicous (?) . Capsule globular, not rising much above the 



branches. 

 Locality. Bogs. Not common. 



Fig. 4. Sphagnum mollusctjm. 



Least Bog Moss (a) . 



Colour. Very pale, yellowish- white. 



Stems. Two to three inches long, branches two and three together, slightly 

 turning back (deflexed) , of about equal thickness to the end (not attenuated) . 

 Leaves (b) . Round egg-shaped (roundish obovate) . 



