CRYPTOTHECII. 65 



Obdeb II. CRYPTOTHECII, Br. & Soh.—Pilotrichei, Mull. 

 Stem not flattened; leaves pointing in every direction; 

 veil mitriform ; peristome wanting, single or double. 



3. CBTPILffiiA, Mohr. 



Monoicous; stem mostly more or less pinnate, springing 

 from a creeping rhizoma; sporangium immersed; veil small, 

 conico-mitriform, generally more or less rough, more or less 

 incised at the base; vaginula none; peristome double; outer 

 of sixteen teeth, inner of sixteen processes, alternating with 

 the teeth, united below by a short membrane. Arboreous or 

 aquatic. 



1. C. heteromalla, Bridel ; primary stem creeping, pinnate; 

 fertile branches erect, slightly branched ; leaves ovate, more 

 or less acute, concave, with the nerve reaching to the centre ; 

 margin reflexed ; sporangium unilateral ; peristome nearly 

 white.— Hook. §• Wils. t. xxii. ; Eng. Bot. t. 1180.; (Plate 3, 

 fig. 3) ; Moug. &; Nest. n. 732. 



On trunks of trees, in woods. Not uncommon. /3 on 

 stones, and at the base of trees in or near rivulets, as in 

 Devonshire. Bearing fruit in early summer. 



About an inch long. Leaves spreading, broadly ovate, 

 acute or acuminate ; sporangia on short perichsetial branches, 

 apparently unilateral, and often crowded, oblong, with a short 

 stalk, yellowish, becoming rufous when old; ring large, de- 

 ciduous; veil slightly rough ; lid conical, pointed, half as long 

 as the sporangium, brighter-coloured. 



The aquatic form is stouter, and has more obtuse leaves 

 whose margins are not reflexed, and is found at the base of 

 trees on the water-side, or on stones, but does not differ in 

 any essential characters. There are several exotic species, but 

 only one European representative of the genus. 



