So FLOWERLESS PLANTS 



[Fontinalis antipyretica). This plant is to be 

 found in running streams all over the United 

 Kingdom. It is a large species with long 

 stems, which are usually attached to a stone 

 and are borne forward on the rushing current. 

 It is possible to draw huge masses of this moss 

 from the water, and we may then find the 

 developing capsules on the sides of the stems. 

 The dispersal of the spores takes place when 

 the stream is at its low summer level and the 

 plant is partly above the water. 



Nearly related to the mosses are the liver- 

 worts {HepaticcB), plants which, as a rule, are 

 only found in very moist situations. Years 

 ago the liverworts were classed \nth the mosses, 

 and many of the species are quite often placed 

 with the latter plants by those who have not 

 studied the differences. Some kinds of Uverwort, 

 such as Tricholea tomenteUa, which often forms 

 dense tufts of pale green by the sides of streams, 

 is singularly moss-hke in appearance. The most 

 important distinguishing feature between the 

 two classes of plants is to be found in the spore 

 cases. With the mosses the capsule hardly 

 ever (with a very few exceptions) opens to 

 allow the contents to escape ; as against this, 



