HYPNEI. 83 



erect, arcuate, generally simple ; leaves densely imbricated, 

 erecto -patent, ovato-lanceolate, acuminate, slightly serrate ; 

 nerve reaching above the middle ; fruitstalk even below ; spo- 

 rangium ovate, cernuous ; lid conical, very acute. — Hook, fy 

 Wils. t. xxv. ; Eng. t. 1496, 2071.; (Plate 5, fig. 3) ; Moug. 

 §■ Nest. n. 520. 



On stones, rocks, and walls in damp, watery places, usually 

 in subalpine districts. Bearing fruit in winter and spring. 



Monoicous ; forming dense bright, or occasionally yellow or 

 rufous-green masses. Stems creeping, bearing short, thick, 

 mostly simple branches ; leaves concave, ovato-lanceolate, 

 shortly acuminate, generally subsecund, of a dense texture, 

 very slightly serrate ; nerve reaching in general far above the 

 middle, sometimes forked near the base; fruitstalk 1 inch 

 high, slightly granulated above only, even below ; sporangium 

 ovate or subglobose, cernuous ; lid very acute. 



The broader leaves, of a dense texture and far less acuminate, 

 added to the large sporangium, distinguish this from the last. 

 The subaquatic habit must also be taken into account. The 

 leaves on the young branchlets, represented on our plate, from 

 a Braemar specimen, are thinner, and more decidedly serrate, 

 with a shorter nerve. Schimper says of the nerve, " vix ultra 

 medium producta." Sometimes the leaves are slightly striate. 



y. SCLEEOPODITJM, Schimp.* 



12. H. csespitosum, Wils. ; stem creeping, with short, 

 simple, curved branches ; leaves ovate, concave, spreading, 

 minutely toothed ; nerve reaching above halfway up ; sporan- 

 gium oblong, curved, suberect ; lid conical, acute. — Wils. fy 

 Hook. t. lv. ; Eng. Bot. t. 2878. 



* This differs from Brachythecium in its narrower leaf-cells ; from Hypnum, 

 Schimp., only in its rough fruitstalk. The (3-reek word <rK\ijpi>s, however, does 

 not signify rough in the sense of scabrous. 



G 2 



