EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA. 73 
leaves ovate, narrowed at middle, and ending in a rounded toothed 
point. 
Synon.—Sph, acutifolium var. «. fuscum, Scuimp. Torf. p. 57, t. xiii. e; Synops. 
p. 673, et ed. 2, p.826. Russow, Beitr. p. 40. MUILDE, Bry. Siles. p. 382. BRaITHw. 
Sphag. Brit. Exsic. n. 39. 
Sph, fuscum, KuInccRAFF, in Schr. der K. Phys. CEk. Gesel. zu Konigs. 1872, 
p. 4. 
Haz.—On extensive moors, forming vast and dense sods. 
Evrope.—Silesia, Prussia, Thuringia, Lapland ; about Dorpat, abundant (Rus- 
sow). ngland: Witherslack Moss, Westmoreland (Barnes). Scotland: Morvan, 
Kincardine, at 2500 feet (Sim). 
Plainly coloured as this variety is, nothing can exceed the 
beauty of a great bed of it, when freshly moistened by a shower, 
resembling, as it does, a surface of snuff-coloured velvet, and it is 
almost with regret that we cannot follow Klingeraff in elevating it 
to the rank of a species; histologically, however, it does not pre- 
sent any distinctive characters. 
Var. x. avctum, BRAITHW. 
Plants in very densely cushioned tufts, 2~3 in. high, pale yellow 
green above, brownish white below. Stem leaves ovate, auricled, 
obtuse; the margin involute at apex, which has five obtuse 
teeth; cells of the upper half fibrillose. Branches in very 
close fascicles, short, ascending, arcuate below; the leaves obtuse, 
5-toothed. 
Synon.— Sh. acutifolium vax. arctum, BRAITHW. in Monthl. Micr. Journ. April, 
1874, Pp. 157. 
Sph, molle var. arctum, BRAITHW. Sphag. Brit. Exsic. n. 21* @ et 3. 
Haz.—On extensive peat-moors in the north. Jreland: Connemara, Galway 
(Dr. Moore). gland: Witherslack Moss, Westmoreland (Barnes). Scotland : 
Shetland Islands, Unst, and Reawick (Sim). 
This is the compact variety of the species, and has a very 
peculiar aspect from its dwarf size and.dense tufts, which form 
close cushions. A faint tinge of purple may generally be observed 
on some of the branches. 
Var. d. Zuvidum, HuEBEN. 
Plants 4-5 in. high, in dense tufts of a dull green colour 
above, fuscous below. Branches densely crowded, erecto-patent, of 
equal length, their leaves closely imbricated, acuminate, strongly 
involute at points. Stem leaves large, elongated, linear-oblong, 
