ISIETS" TO THE Gr-EZCsTEie,^. 



The following Key is solely intended to enable beginners to 

 refer an unrecognised specimen of moss to its proper Genus. To 

 use it, the student must first consult the "General Key," follow- 

 ing it down until he comes to the point where a capital letter 

 refers him to the proper Section for his specimen. Turning to 

 this, he must again follow down the Key there until he arrives at 

 the Genus required. For example, supposing his specimen is 

 Hedwigia ciliata. In the "General Key" he looks at No. i, 

 which, as his leaves are not distichous, sends him on to No. 2, 

 and here, as his leaves have hyaline points, he finds himself 

 referred to " B." Turning then to B, he finds that No. 1, as 

 his leaves are without lamellae, sends him to No. 3, under which 

 the nerveless leaves of his plant point him to Hedwigia. 



It should be borne in mind that the " General Key" must be 

 consulted (at least until the student is thoroughly familiar with 

 its method) before turning to the Sectional headings, as these 

 headings only imply that plants with such and such a description 

 will be found under them, if not already included in some earlier 

 section, e.g., "D. Leaves bordered" does not include Catharinea, 

 which had already appeared under C. 



GENERAL KEY, 



/Leaves (at least in barren stems) distichous, in two rows only A. 



\ Leaves inserted in three or more rows on the stem 2 



/Ls. with hyaline points, or with the nerve excurrent in a hair B 



\Ls. without hyaline or hair points (or the whole leaf colourless) 3 



/Ls. with longitudinal lamelke on inner face of nerve C 



■'XLs. without lamellae on inner face 4 



/Ls. bordered with narrow cells, or with a thickened border D 



4\Ls. not bordered 5 



/Branch-leaves with spiral fibres in their cells 1. Sphagnum 



->\Cells without spiral fibres 6 



( Plant brown or blackish, very fragile, on rocks ; capsule opening by longitudinal 



6-J slits 2. Andrecea 



\ Plant not blackish ; capsule opening by a lid, or cleistocarpous 7 



/Plant with fruit 8 



' \Plant without fruit 19 



