CATHARINEA. 37 



wide-mouthed ; lid conical with a subulate beak. Peristome 

 teeth narrow, unequal, basal membrane very narrow. 



Var. /8. densifolia Lindb. Dwarf ; leaves crowded, broader 

 and more elliptical, patulous. 



Hab. Sides and beds of rocky streams, among grass or in sand ; rare. Male 

 and barren plants only. The var. $ at Oakmere, Cheshire. 



The fertile plant has been found in N. America only ; the stem is shorter, the 

 leaves longer and closer than in our plants. The laxer areolation and the few and in- 

 distinct lamelke will easily distinguish it from the other species ; indeed, it is much 

 more likely to be confounded with Mnium hormim, which it closely resembles, but a 

 careful examination will detect the presence of lamellae, though they are sometimes so 

 slightly developed that, without care, they are liable to be overlooked ; the cells in 

 Mnium hornum are moreover distinctly smaller than in our plant. 



The large tufts in which it grows are often embedded almost up to the tops of the 

 stems in sand or dibris. 



5. OLIGOTRIOHUM De C. 



Stems simple, from a subterranean rhizome. Leaves oblong 

 or lineal-lanceolate, not contracted above the sheathing base, 

 concave, with numerous sinuose lamellas in front and a few at 

 back. Dioicous. Capsule erect, ovate-oblong ; calyptra with a 

 few scattered erect hairs ; teeth of peristome slender, irregular. 



Intermediate between Catharinea and Polytrichum. 



1. OUgotrichum incurvum Lindb. (Bryum incurvum Huds.) 



(Tab. IX. C.) 



Loosely caespitose, glaucous green, reddish brown when old. 

 Stems about one inch high, erect, rigid, unbranched. Leaves 

 small and distant below, crowded above, erect or spreading, when 

 dry strongly incurved or twisted, but less crisped and undulate 

 than in Catharinea, lanceolate from an oblong, thin, sheathing 

 base ; concave, more or less acute, not bordered, margin incurved, 

 especially above, remotely .and minutely dentate, coarsely notched 

 at apex ; areolation small, regularly rectangular at base, then 

 quadrate, in upper part of the leaf irregularly hexagonal ; nerve 

 with lamellae on both sides, at the back few (3-5), short, bluntly 

 serrate, low, and rather in the form of ridges than lamellas ; on the 

 upper surface numerous, 10-12, high, sinuose from side to side 

 when viewed from above, occupying about one-third or half the 

 width of leaf in upper part, their upper margin variously notched 

 and crested ; in section of 6-12 equal cells. Dioicous ; male 

 plants shorter, flowers brownish red, discoid. Capsule on a 



