398 hypnacejE. 



ovate-acuminate, often plicate ; areolation rhomboid, variously 

 elongated, often short and rather wide, somewhat lax at base, 

 -usually rectangular and distinct at angles. Monoicous or 

 dioicous. Seta rough or smooth. Capsule inclined or horizontal, 

 curved and usually gibbous at back, ovate or oblong, thick- 

 ■walled ; lid conical, often acuminate, not rostrate. Peristome 

 perfect, rarely imperfect. 



The present genus is a fairly natural one, distinguished from 

 Camptothecium by the leaves usually wider and more or less 

 ■ovate at base, by the areolation which is shorter, wider, and 

 rhomboid, becoming distinctly laxer towards the base, and by the 

 shorter, more turgid, more solid capsule. From Eurhynchium it 

 is distinguished by the lid of the capsule not being rostrate, but 

 .at the most acuminate. I have united Scleropodium B. & S. with 

 it ; the areolation in that group of species is by no means longer, 

 narrower, or more vermicular than in several species of 

 Brachythecium, and the julaceous form of the branches is 

 ■shared by B. glaciale and others. I have also followed Lindberg 

 in associating with these Hypnum purum L., which differs from 

 Scleropodium in no respect but in the smooth seta, a character 

 of but slight, and admittedly not generic importance. 



The British species have the leaves all straight, or at the 

 most slightly secund ; a Canadian species has, however, the leaves 

 distinctly falcato-secund, giving the plant a curiously Harpidioid 

 facies. The same remark applies to Camptothecium ; as far as 

 the European species are concerned, the straight leaves afford a 

 good distinctive character as compared with for instance Hypnum 

 uncinatum ; but I have received from the Rev. A. C. Waghorne a 

 very pretty N. American moss, apparently an undescribed species 

 of Camptothecium, which is very distinct in its falcato-secund 

 leaves. These two plants would appear to indicate that the 

 Harpidioid Hypna are less widely separated from the present 

 groups than is usually supposed, and it may ultimately be found 

 necessary to re-unite most of the genera as at present received, 

 under Hypnum, as was done by the earlier bryologists. 



/Ls. ovate-oblong, sub-acute or apiculate, not tapering, very concave 2 



\Ls. ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, acute or acuminate 3 



{Stem pinnate; branches regular, in one plane ; seta smooth 16. purum 

 Stem prostrate ; branches rather irregular, incurved ; seta rough ...zj. illecebrum 



{Ls. strongly plicate, long, with long slender acumen ; seta smooth (rough above 

 in campestre) 4 

 Ls. not or less plicate, usually shorter : seta rough 8 



/Stem with paraphyllia ; Is. very deeply plicate lm plicatum 



*\Stem without paraphyllia 5 



