86 



MOSSES WITH A HAND-LENS 



emergent plicate capsules. The spores mature in late spring or 

 summer. 



O. STEANOUEATUM SulHv. (Figure 32.) 

 This is one of our commonest mosses, 

 abundant on shade trees almost everywhere. 

 It can be recognized with a hand-lens by 

 the characters given in the key if one is 

 familiar with it. The capsules are not so 

 deeply plicate until a month or more after 

 the spores ripen. It is a little smaller than 

 the preceding, the leaves are narrower, and 

 the calyptra naked ; the spores apparently 

 mature about a month later. 



In August I have found O. speciosum, 

 0. sordidum, O. strangulatum, and 0. Ohio- 

 ense growing together on fruit trees. 

 O. strangulatum is much the most abundant, and is easily rec- 

 ognized by the strangulate, dark red-brown capsules appearing 

 as described in the text. O. Ohioense is about the same size, but 

 the straw-colored capsules catch the eye at once. O. sordidum 

 stands out at once by reason of its greater size and larger leaves 

 and capsules less plicate than in O. strangulatum. O. speciosum 

 is somewhat smaller than sordidum, and at this time the cap- 

 sules are immature with the hairy calyptra still firmly attached. 

 The comparative size of speciosum and sordidum is just the 

 reverse of what my herbarium specimens a.nd the book descriptions 

 lead me to expect as the specimens of speciosum I collected 

 were much smaller than those in my collection. 



Figure 32. 

 Capsule of Qrthotri- 

 chum strangulatum. 



Family M. ScHISTOSTEGACEAE. The Luminous 



Moss Family. 



CHisTosTEGA osMUNDACEA (Dicks.) Mohr., the Luminous 

 Moss, belongs in a family all by itself because of its 

 numerous peculiarities. It is found in caves and dark 

 holes in the woods, sometimes under the roots of over- 

 turned trees. It has once been found under the sill of 

 an old shed. 



On looking into one of these caverns containing the Luminous 

 Moss, the bottom seems covered with a golden-green glow, some- 

 thing like the appearance of a cat's eyes in the dark. In order 



