TRICHOSTOMUM. 



jnellej, with a pellucid finely ferrated point. Capfule ovate. 

 Stem ereft, with very fhort branches. — One of the moft 

 liandfome, as well as moft rare, of its genus. Dr. Richard- 

 fon originally fent it to Dillenius from the higheft part of 

 Snowdon. Two of our belt Britiih cryptogamifts, Meffrs. 

 Borrer and Hooker, found it in fruftification, in 1808, on 

 the fandy ftiores of the Tay near Dunkeld. Thejfeins are 

 perennial, two or three inclies high, ercft, in looie tufts, 

 leafy, fubdivided, and furnifhed moreover with abundance 

 of Ihort fpreading branches, which give the plant that re- 

 femblance to Erica •uulgarii, expreffed in the name. Leaves 

 deep green, or tawny, fpreading and recurved, revolute, 

 entire, keeled with a deep channel refembling a mid-rib, and 

 tipped with a fine ferrated hair-like point, moft vifible 

 when dry. Frutt-Jlalks terminating tlie laft year's ftioots, 

 about an inch and a half long, red, finally dark purple, 

 twifted. Capfule ereft, fmooth, brown. Lid red, awl- 

 fhaped, ftraight, nearly of the faine lengtli. Fringe purple, 

 almoll as long, ftraight and flender. Veil fringed with 

 jagged teeth, not fplitting. 



T. canefcens. Common Hoary Fringe-mofs. Hedw. Sp. 

 Mufc. III. Crypt, v. 3. 5. t. 3. Fl. Brit. n. 10. Engl. Bot. 

 t. 2534. { Bryum hypnoides a ; Hudf. 480. B. hypnoides 

 hirfutie canefcens, vulgare ; Dill. Mufc. 368. t.47. f. 27 :) 

 — Leaves ovato-lanceolate, with a central channel, but no 

 nerve, and a pellucid rough point. Capfule ovate. Stem 

 ereft, with upright branches. — Very common every where, 

 on open, dry, fandy heaths, or moors, both in mountainous 

 and maritime iituations, bearing capfules about February or 

 March, but not frequently. The branches are more level- 

 topped and afcending than in the laft-defcribed, and the 

 leaves of a yellower green, becoming very hoary when drj-, 

 in confequence of their white points, rough in every direc- 

 tion. The want of a mid-rib in this fpecies, though there 

 is a furrow appearing like one, has been pointed out as a 

 means of diftinguifhing it from the reft, efpecially from 

 T. ericoides. But the fame charafter is found, as we have 

 already defcribed, in that fpecies ; while fome of Dillenius's 

 fpecimens of the prefent, very carefully examined, prove to 

 have an aftual rib. Thefe are pofTibly accidental fragments 

 of another fpecies. The prefent certainly has no mid-rib, 

 and has its capfule, fringe, and lid accord exadlly with 

 ericoides. The latter may be, as Hedwig thought, but a 

 variety of this more common and lefs elegant kind. 

 Whether there be any permanent difference in the rough- 

 nefs of the points of their leaves, which affords a clear dif- 

 tinftion in T. lanuginofum, can only be determined by a more 

 minute examination than our materials will admit. 



T. fafciculare. Beai'dlefs Hoary Fringe-mofs. Schrad. 

 Spicil. 61. Fl. Brit. n. II. Engl. Bot. t. 2005. (B. 

 hypnoides /S ; Linn. Sp. PI. 1585. B. hypnoides, hirfutie 

 virefcens, fafciculare alpinum ; Dill. Mufc. 370. t. 47. 

 f. 28.) — Leaves lanceolate, pointed, revolute, keeled. 

 Capfule ovate-oblong. Stem branched, diffufe. — An in- 

 habitant of dry rocky mountains in the North, bearing 

 plenty of capfules in the fpring, whofe empty blackened 

 remains continue long. This fpecies approaches feveral 

 mountain kinds of Dicranum in habit, but is a genuine 

 Trichqflomum. The hoarincfs of the old plants arifes partly 

 from a whitifli hue affumed by the leaves in decay, and 

 partly from their (lightly pellucid edges ; but not from any 

 pellucid or hair-like point, the want of which renders 

 T. fafciculttre very diftinft from the three foregoing. Its 

 fringe too is much (horter, and the leaves have a mid-rib. 



T.glaucefcens. Glaucous Fringe-mofs. Hedw. Crypt. 

 V. 3. 103. t. 37, B. Fl. Brit. n. 14. Engl. Bot. t. 2381. 

 {Bryum glaucefcene ; Dickf. Crypt, fafc. 4. ic) — Leaves 



linear-lanceolate, acute, rather glaucous. Capfule ovatf, 

 flightly furrowed. Stem ereft, fomewhat branched, — 

 Native of Sweden and Scotland, in which laft country Mr. 

 Dickfon difcovered this pretty and uncommon fpecies, 

 growing in fliady rather mountainous fituations. We have 

 not heard of it from any other perfon. Theflems compofe 

 perennial leafy tufts, fcarcely half an inch high. Leaves 

 ereft, pointlefs, rather incurved when dr)', of a light-green, 

 flightly glaucous, entire, keeled, with a mid-rib ; the upper 

 ones moft elongated and tapering. Capfules peculiarly 

 light -coloured and fhining, with a ■pwr^Xe fringe, and a co- 

 nical obhque lid, reddifti at the bafe, half the length of the 

 capfule. The internal carity of the latter does not reach 

 to the bottom, which, as the thin outer coat of the capfule 

 dries, caufes a contraftion there, like an apophyfis, but of a 

 very different nature. The fame appearance is obfervablc 

 in fome fpecies of Bryum with club-lhaped fruit. 



T. lineare. Linear-leaved Fringe-mofs. Fl. Brit. n. 17. 

 EngL Bot. t. 1598. (Bryum lineare; Dickf. Cr)'pt. 

 fafc. 3. 6. t. 8. f. 2.) — Leaves linear -lanceolate, imbricated, 

 acute. Capfule elliptical. Lid conical, oblique. Stem 



ereft Native of Scotland, Wales, and Northumberland, in 



wet places, on a calcareous or fandy foil, bearing capfules 

 in the fpring. Stems tufted, branched, perennial, an inch or 

 more in height, clothed with dark-green leaves, which vary 

 from an almoft linear to an ovate form, and turn either yel- 

 lowifti or blackilh, from conftant immerfion in water, or 

 from its dripping upon them. Fruitflalks red, an inch long. 

 Capfule ovate, fmooth, with a taper lid of its own length. 

 The afpeft of this mofs, efpecially w-hen growing in a wet 

 fhady place, is much like Dicranum pellucidum, and it has 

 caufed fome miftakes by that means. Still more perhaps 

 does it refemblea Tortula, (fee that article,) but the fhort 

 ftraight delicate yWn^i" truly indicates a Trichojlomum. The 

 teeth, ftauding in pairs, are connefted by one common bafe, 

 according to Mr. Sowerby. 



T. fontinatioides. River Fringe-mofs. Hedw. Crypt. 

 V. 3. 36. t. 14. Fl. Brit. n. 19. (Fontinahs minor; 

 Hudf. 468. Dickf. Dr. PI. 17. Engl. Bot. t. 557. 

 F. triangularis minor carinata, e cymis capfulifera ; Dill. 

 Mufc. 257. t. 33. f. 2. Hypnum n. 1796; Hall. Hift. 

 V. 3. 41, excluding the fynonyms of Dillenius and Lin- 

 nsus. ) 



;3. Fontinalis alpina ; Dickf. Crypt, fafc. 2. 2. t. 4. f. i. 

 (Hypnum nigricans; Villars Dauph. v. 3. 905, B.) — 

 Leaves lanceolate. Capfules ovate, nearly feffile at the ends 

 of the lateral {hoots. Stem floating, very much branched. 

 — Native of rivers, in various parts of England, as the 

 Thames at Lambeth, the Ifis at Oxford, and the Oufe at 

 Oakley, Bedfordfhire. The mountain variety (S inhabits the 

 ftony beds of the more rapid ftreams of Scotland, Wales, 

 and the north of England. Both are firmly attached to 

 walls or ftones under water, their numerous tufted, 

 branched leafy Jlems, four or five inches long, floating with 

 the ftream. The leaves are of a ver)' dark dull ohve-green, 

 narrower and almoft black in the variety B, loofely imbri- 

 cated, lanceolate, entire, acute, keeled, with a ftrong rib ; 

 all undulated and twifted when dry. Capfules terminating 

 the lateral branches, fohtary, ereft, ovate, brown, fmooth. , 

 Lid half as long, conical, rather curved. Fringe long, I 

 tawny or red, its teeth varioufly connefted and pierced at ' 

 the bafe, flightly convoluted when dry, foon falling off. The 

 habit of this mofs is fo little like the reft of its genus, that 

 we cannot but wifti the character of its fringe were more 

 decidedly fufficient to eftahlifti a new one. The fpecific 

 name moreover, though expreffive, is barbaronfly con- 

 ftrufted. 



The 



