MOSSES WITH A HAND-LENS 



39 



ONCOPHORUS. 



(Cynodontium Schimper). 



The species of this genus are as a 

 rule alpine or subalpine, but one of 

 the number, 



O. WahlEnberGii Brid. is frequent 

 enough to warrant mention here. This 

 is a pretty little moss growing on rocks 

 and soil in cool situations in or near 

 the mountains. Its crisped spreading 

 leaves, somewhat resembling Dicranum 

 fuscescens in appearance, with their 

 suddenly dilated bases, and the arcuate, 

 smooth or irregularly-wrinkled, plainly 

 strumose capsule render it easy of 

 recognition by one who has ever seen 

 it before. 



CERATODON Brid. 



C. PURPUREUS (L.) Brid., our only 

 species, is one of the commonest of all 

 our mosses. It is found on the edges 

 of paths, roofs of old buildings, sand 

 by the seashore, and in general any 

 barren compact soil is its favorite 

 habitat. The plants are short and 

 grow close together, forming dense 

 thin mats of dark green. The lance- 

 like young sporophytes appear early in 

 spring as soon as the snow is melted. 

 By the middle of the summer the capsules often decay beyond 

 recognition and the seta breaks from the plant at the touch. 



Unless one has become familiar with Ceratodon it is not 

 always easy to recognize it without mature capsules. 



Figure 14. 



Capsule X13, leaf X 10, 

 and leaf cells X 200 ot 

 Oncophorits Wahlenbergii. 



