238 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



characteristic appearance to the plants, especially the sterile shoots. 

 The leaves are extremely narrow. Another feature is the stout 

 border, unusually stout indeed for the small size of the plant ; not 

 only is it of several cells in width, but it is actually thickened at 

 times, as in the section Pachylomidium. This, however, only 

 occurs in the best developed leaves, and does not perhaps altogether 

 justify its inclusion in that section. It is this stout border which 

 prevents the leaves from curling up when dry as do most of the 

 smaller species ; they are indeed in the dry state often very little 

 altered. A third character is the comparatively lax areolation. 

 Schimper, indeed, describes it, "reti tenui ut in F. bryoide" a 

 somewhat inaccurate statement, which has, I believe, led to a good 

 deal of the confused synonymy above referred to. In both Musci 

 Gall. 812, and in Solms-Laubach's original plant, I find the cells — 

 as in the Devonshire specimens — conspicuously laxer and more 

 irregular than in F. bryoides and the other species to which F. 

 algarvicus has at times been referred. Venturi's description of the 

 cells of F. Sardagnai exactly describe it : " Areolatio foliorum ubique 

 ex cellulis oblique et irregulariter hexagonis, laxior quam in F. 

 pusillo et incur vo." In the vaginant lamina especially the cells 

 are remarkably elongated, irregularly rhomboid-hexagonal and 

 hexagono-rectangular ; in fact, altogether different in character 

 from the usual areolation in the species of this section. The dorsal 

 lamina gradually narrows downwards and disappears above the 

 leaf-base. ^ The capsule is minute, erect, and symmetrical. For 

 other details I must refer readers to the published descriptions. 



The characters enumerated will, I think, serve both to indicate 

 the marks by which the plant may be distinguished, and at the 

 same time to establish its title to specific rank. A word or two 

 must now be said as to its relationship to the species referred to at 

 the commencement of this article. 



F. intralimbatus Euthe may for our purpose be dismissed at 

 once ; it belongs to quite a different section, having the vaginant 

 lamina alone bordered. In all probability the somewhat misleading 

 description of F. algarvicus given by Schimper, together with a 

 similarity in the names of the localities where the two plants were 

 found, induced Mitten's supposition. Both were indeed found 

 during the same year in Algarvia by Graf zu Solms-Laubach ; but 

 while F. algarvicus was gathered near Siives, F. intralimbatus was 



found near Tavira, at least one hundred and twenty-five miles 

 away. 



Nor can there, I think, be much question that the characters of 

 F. algarvicus are sufficiently well defined and important to preclude 

 its subordination as a variety to any of the three species — F. pusillus 

 Wils., F. incur vus Starke, and F. viridulus Wahl.— to which it has 

 been at times referred. The form of the leaf apex, together with 

 the strongly developed and even thickened border, and the areola- 

 tion, remove it in my opinion further from any of these than they 

 in their turn are separated from one another. 



The resemblance of F. algarvicus to F. Orrii Braithw. (Schisto- 

 phyltum Orrii Lindb. Rev. Bry. 1880, p. 97) at once struck me, 



