WEBERA. 302 



simple, with a few innovations from the base, rarely from below 

 the flowers. Lower leaves small, ovate-lanceolate , increasing in 

 size upwards, the uppermost crowded, much longer, lanceolate , 

 forming a comal tuft ; the leaves on the barren innovations 

 usually sub-equal. Margin recurved below, plane above, more 01 

 less denticulate in the upper half, more strongly at the apex ; 

 nerve usually reaching to apex, brownish ; cells narrowlj 

 hexagonal-rhomboid, or linear-rhomboid, narrower at apex, widei 

 and sub-rectangular at base. Seta very variable in length, \-i\ 

 inches long, slender, straight or curved ; capsule very variable, 

 ovate-oblong with a tapering neck, of varying length and distinct- 

 ness, horizontal or slightly pendulous , reddish brown, i~r}i linei 

 in length with the neck ; lid convex, apiculate or shortly and 

 acutely acuminate. Peristome reddish brown, the inner paler 

 yellow, cilia absent or very rudimentary. Paroicous ; antheridk 

 in the axils of the upper leaves, in pairs. 



Var. /3. brachycarpa Schp. (Pohlia brachycarpa Hornsch.) 



Shorter and more compact in all its parts ; stems short, leaves 



closer ; seta stouter, short ; capsule shorter, thicker, lesi 



tapering. 



* 

 Hab. On earth and among rocks on mountains, not common. The var. 

 brachycarpa more rare. Fr. autumn. 



As its name implies, this is a most variable species ; many varieties have beer 

 described, but for the most part they are forms rather than varieties in the strict sense. 

 The capsule is almost always shorter, and, in proportion to its length, wider than ir 

 W. elongata, and is more inclined, often pendulous ; the inner peristome also has the 

 cilia usually quite wanting. 



* Webera acuminata Schp. (Pohlia acuminata Hornsch., 

 Braithw. Br. M. Fl.) (Tab. XLI. J.). 



The only constant difference between this plant and W, 

 polymorpha is in the inflorescence, which in W. acuminata is 

 autoicous ; the male flowers gemmiform, below the fertile flowei 

 or on a short branch, with several small ovate bracts. The leaves 

 are most frequently a little more rigid, the cells slightly longer, 

 the lid of the capsule more acuminate, and the neck slightly more 

 elongated and distinct, but these characters are by no means 

 constantly present. 



Hab. In similar situations, but more frequent. Fr. autumn. 



There can be no doubt that the characters, beyond that derived from the 

 inflorescence, which are sometimes given as separating W. acuminata and W. 



