BRACHYTHECIUM. 409 



and imbricated, frequently sub-secund ; concave, not plicate, 

 small, oval-oblong, with a rather abrupt point or acumen of 

 varying length ; branch-leaves narrower, with shorter points ; 

 margin plane or almost so, denticulate in upper part, nerve strong 

 at the base, reaching above half-way, often forked, frequently 

 projecting at tip from the back of the leaf as in the next; cells 

 narrow, linear-vermicular, 8-12 times as long as wide, shorter 

 and broader at apex ; wide, rectangular-oval at basal angles, 

 opaque or pellucid. Seta rough. Capsule suberect or inclined, 

 narrowly oblong, often curved ; lid conical, acuminate. Dioicous. 



Hab. Stones, foot of trees, etc. , not common. Fr. rare, winter. 



A somewhat difficult plant to determine, owing to the rarity of its fruit and the 

 similarity it bears to one or two other mosses, notably to Eurhynchium crassinervium 

 and E. murale. The former is a more robust plant, with less julaceous branches, 

 shorter cells, stouter nerve, and longly rostrate lid ; E. confertum and E. murale are 

 autoicous, and being generally fertile are readily distinguished by the long beak of the 

 lid ; the latter also differs in the still more concave, very shortly pointed leaves and 

 short nerve, and the former in the leaves not being imbricated nor julaceous. The 

 slender, more or less julaceous, curved branches with very concave leaves are the 

 characteristic features of this plant. It somewhat resembles a miniature form of B. 

 plumosum. There appears to me no sufficient reason for separating this plant, and 

 with it the two following species, from Brachythecium. The areolation, mainly 

 on the ground of which it was separated by Bruch and Schimper, differs in no 

 respect from that of many of the species of the genus, nor is the julaceous arrange- 

 ment of the leaves different from that of many species. 



The capsule indeed in the present species is somewhat long and narrow for the 

 genus, but it is quite equalled in that respect by others, such as B. latum B. & S. 

 On the whole it appears to me a much more natural arrangement to unite these 

 species with the present genus, with which they closely agree in the areolation, the 

 short lid, and, in the former two, the rough seta. 



15. Brachythecium illecebrum De Not. (Hypnum illece- 

 brum Schwgr. ; Scleropodium illecebrum B. & S.) 

 (Tab. LIII. G.). 

 Nearly allied to the last, differing in habit ; the branches 

 ■more tumid, obtuse, very julaceous, shorter ; forming loose low 

 tufts of a bright green. Leaves very concave, very widely oval, 

 wide at apex and suddenly contracted to a short point, slightly 

 decurrent at base, very soft in texture, closely imbricated when 

 dry, denticulate ; nerve reaching about J the length of the leaf, 

 sometimes forked ; ending rather abruptly, and frequently 

 projecting at its tip from the back of the leaf in a hispid point. 

 Areolation narrow, linear-vermicular, 10-12 times as long as wide, 

 a little longer than in the last ; angular cells few, lax. Seta very 

 rough ; capsule shorter, oblong, sub-horizontal, slightly turgid ; 

 lid apiculate. Dioicous. 



Hab. On the ground, and among earth on rocks, not common, and usually 

 barren ; most frequently found near the sea. Fr. winter. 



