228 PEARLS AND PEBBLES. 



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grows close to the ground, and extends largely, by means 

 of its root-stalk, which sends, up many shoots, each bud 

 forming a little leafy deep green cup. 



A singularly handsome, tree-like variety is the Palm- 

 Tree Moss (Climacium Americanwm), but it is not a 

 member of the Bryum family, being distinct from it both 

 in habit and appearance. 



The appropriate name of Palm Tree Moss is derived 

 from its plumy head; the stem is often more than an 

 inch high, bearing on its summit a drooping crown of 

 elegant feathery fronds, from the midst of which ascend 

 slender thready stalks bearing the long cylindrical pale- 

 red capsules. 



When growing in the rich damp soil of the shady 

 woods the full-grown specimens are bright green, but in 

 wet spongy places, exposed to the rays of the sun, the 

 plants take a bronze color, are stunted and thick-set, 

 and have not the graceful appearance of those nurtured 

 in the forest. 



One of the most elegant of the somewhat stiffly grow- 

 ing mosses is the \Dicranum, secundum, which is of a 

 slenderer habit than the Dicranum. scoparium. In it 

 the hair-like leafage is more scattered and borne on one 

 side only. There are many species, and they are to be 

 found in many places: some in damp woodlands, on logs, 

 or on the ground; some on gneiss rocks and hillsides, 

 forming thick level beds of velvety green, very bright 

 and lovely, the dark capsules giving a fringe-like grace 



