454 HYPNACE^. 



erecto-patent both moist and dry, not or very rarely squarrose, 

 often sub-secund, longly and widely lanceolate, from a rather 

 narrow, hardly excavate, not cordate nor triangular base, about 

 i line long ; nerve single, reaching half-way or more, distinct, 

 but not very strong ; areolation narrow, linear, as in the firmer 

 forms of H. stellatum ; at basal angles distinct, large, often, 

 orange, forming distinct auricles usually reaching nearly to the 

 nerve. Seta long, i^-2 inches or even more ; capsule variable- 

 in form. Autoicous or synoicous. 



Hab. Marshes, wet meadows, etc. , not common. Fr. summer. 



Not easy to recognise in the field from certain forms of H. stellatum, though very- 

 different from the typical form of that species in the less spreading, narrower leaves, 

 and usually very fertile. The narrow base of the leaves, the long nerve, and different 

 inflorescence will easily separate it under the microscope. Like the above-mentioned, 

 species, it is sometimes very slender, with shorter, more spreading leaves. 



The typical squarrose leaves of H. stellatum will not flatten out under a cover- 

 glass without the involution of the margins in the middle, or at least without rendering 

 them undulated ; in the present plant, and in typical H. chrysophyllum, the less 

 squarrose directions allows of their being flattened without much alteration of outline. 



Wilson's var. stagnatum is the larger, robust form of this plant, stronger in all 

 its parts than the more slender and perhaps commoner form. 



The areolation will distinguish H. polygamum from H. riparium. 



4. Hypnum stellatum Schreb. (A mblystegium stellatum Lindb.)< 

 (Tab. LVI. K.). 



Very variable. Typically robust, stems stout, erect or 

 ascending, 2-4 inches high, somewhat divided, and with numerous, 

 sub-pinnate, more or less crowded and erect branches ; forming 

 large soft tufts of a yellowish green or bright golden colour, 

 glossy. Leaves variable in size and form, ^-1% lines long, some- 

 what crowded, from an erect, ovate or widely cordate base, more or 

 less rapidly narrowed to a long, gradually tapering, acute, 

 squarrose acumen, hardly altered when dry, rigid, scariose, at 

 base wide, slightly excavate, with rounded, hardly decurrent 

 auricles, in the acumen somewhat channelled ; entire, or sinuolate 

 at base only ; nerveless or with a very short and faint, double or 

 single, often forked nerve ; cells narrow, linear, in the young 

 leaves often pointed and somewhat thin-walled, 8-10 times as> 

 long as wide, in older leaves often narrower and obtuse, with the 

 walls incrassate and porose, almost uniform to base ; at angles 

 distinct, sub-rectangular, incrassate, variable in size and colour, 

 opaque, orange or pellucid, forming larger or smaller, more or 

 less distinct auricles. Seta long, i-if inches, stout ; capsule 

 oblong-cylindric, curved. Dioicous. 



