272 FUNARIACE^. 



1. Physcomitrium sphsericum Brid. (Gymnostomum 



sphsericum Ludw.) (Tab. XXXVIII. A.). 



Stems very short, 1-2 lines in length, rarely more than a line. 

 Leaves close, erecto-patent, broadly obovate, concave, obtuse, 

 entire, or faintly irregular with the protruding marginal cells; 

 nerve vanishing below apex ; cells lax, hexagonal-rectangular. 

 Seta about iyi lines in length, capsule small, spherical, with an 

 obtusely apiculate lid, after the fall of the lid widely turbinate, 

 broader than long, with a very wide mouth, brown. Spores 

 25-30 /i, papillose. Calyptra narrow, conical, about 4-lobed at 

 base. Autoicous. 



Hab. Dried mud in beds of pools, very rare. Cheshire ; Derbyshire ; 

 Staffordshire ; Fr. autumn. 



This rare and pretty little moss sometimes grows with Pottia. truncatula, small 

 specimens of which might easily be taken for it. In that however the capsule is 

 always longer in proportion to its width, the leaves are not concave, and the nerve 

 is longer. 



Like many of the smaller kinds of moss this species has a habit of disappearing 

 from its localities and reappearing after a lapse of some years. 



2. Physcomitrium pyriforme Brid. (Bryum pyriforme L.) 



(Tab. XXXVIII. B.). 



Closely gregarious, often in wide patches, bright green, 

 taller. Leaves rather large, erecto-patent or spreading, concave, 

 ovate, or from a narrow base obovate, somewhat acute, serrate 

 above, nerve vanishing at apex, narrow, distinct ; cells large, at 

 base rectangular, becoming more hexagonal-rhomboid towards 

 the summit, narrower towards margin. Calyptra erect, finally 

 4-5 lobed, the lobes divaricate. Seta j-5 lines long, red ; capsule 

 variable in form, larger, roundish-oval or oval-oblong, with a 

 rather short but distinct neck, the whole usually pyriform when 

 dry, the capsule often, but not always, slightly contracted below 

 the rather narrow mouth ; lid convex, apiculate, usually distinctly 

 rostellate, the cells in straight lines from apex to margin ; 

 annulus broad, fugacious. Autoicous. 



Hab. Clay banks and heaps of mud thrown out of ditches, &c. Common. 

 Fr. spring. 



There is no difficulty in distinguishing this species from the last ; the greater size 

 of all its parts, the larger and longer capsule with a much narrower mouth, easily 

 identifying it. It has much greater resemblance to Funaria fascicularis, but may be 

 distinguished without much difficulty by the following characters. The lid in the 

 present species is always distinctly apiculate, usually with a longish beak, while in 

 that it is plano-convex, and the cells are also somewhat spirally arranged, in our plant 



