■as MOSSES WITH A HAND-LENS 



threads. This beautiful plant is probably the reality upon which 

 are based the fairy tales of goblin gold. The discovery of this 

 rare and curious plant will repay a search in every dark hole 

 -one sees. If present it can always be seen from the outside, as it 

 cannot grow beyond the reach of light. Mrs. Britton's Observer 

 articles give a much fuller account of this moss. 



Family 13. SplachnACEAE, The Spkchnwm Family. 

 SPLACHNUM. 



HERE are several species of Splachnum, but only one 

 is likely to be found. 



S. AMPULLACEUM L., the odd looking moss repre- 

 sented in Fig 34, is not very common and will not be 

 found readily by most students. It is so striking in 

 appearance that no one can fail to recognize it. The spores 



are borne in the slender 

 upper portion ; the swollen 

 and colored (lilac or pur- 

 plish) lower portion is the 

 neck of the capsule, which 

 is covered with stomata and 

 filled with loose tissue suit- 

 able for the assimilation of 

 carbon dioxide. When dry 

 this portion becomes irreg- 

 ularly shrunken in a man- 

 ner very difficult to repre- 

 sent in a drawing. 



There are several other 

 rare mosses of the Splach- 

 num Family, all remark- 

 able for the swollen neck 

 (much less conspicuous 



than in Splachnum, how- 

 FiGURE 34 Splachnum ampullaceum, \ j r 



leaf X lo; capsule, ripe and unripe X ever), and for growing 



i -^'^''^1,'''^"' ^'?i'^ capsules represented on animal excreta or de- 

 are rather small, as they are often . . 

 found of twice this size). caying animal tissue. 



