82 HYPNACEAE 



4 — Capsules erect and symmetric; peristome without cilia Climacieae 



Capsules curved, cernuous; peristome perfect Porotricheae 



5— Capsules ovoid, short, thick and unsymmetric, usually little con- 

 tracted under the mouth when dry; stem and branch leaves often 



quite different 6 



Capsules longer, arcuate-cylindric as a rule, usually more contracted 



under the mouth when dry A mblystegieae 



6 — Costa single and usually reaching well beyond middle of leaf; seta 



often rough; paraphyllia lacking Brachythecieae 



Costa frequently double, often short; paraphyllia large and abundant 

 in many species; seta smooth Hylocomieae 



Subfamily Hylocomieae 



The characters of this subfamily are pretty well enumerated 

 under Hylocomium . Its position is somewhat of a novelty as 

 the usually double costa has caused it to be most frequently 

 put with the Hypneae, yet the large and abundant paraphyllia 

 of some of the species as well as gross appearance resemble the 

 Thuidia, while the capsules are certainly more like the Brachy- 

 thecieae than the Hypneae. The stems, moreover, possess a 

 central strand. 



Key to Genera 



Leaves secund, strongly rugose; no paraphyllia Rhytidium 



Leaves not secund nor rugose; paraphyllia very abundant in some species. 



Hylocomium 



HYLOCOMIUM B. & S. 



Large robust mosses growing in wide, loose patches, character- 

 istically in cool moist woods (the name signifies "inhabitants of 

 the wood"), of a various habit yet for the most part with a 

 common facies that is more easily recognized than described. 

 Some are complanately branched and regularly bi-pinnate after 

 the manner of Thuidium, most are rather irregularly branched. 

 A number of the species have the stems densely covered with 

 large branched paraphyllia. Leaves usually large and strongly 

 plicate to sulcate. Costa single and strong but never percurrent, 

 or double and more or less well developed. This genus, Hygro- 

 hypnum, and Campylium contain species with the costa single 

 and double or even wanting, yet the species of these genera that 

 vary in the development of the costa and also in that of the 

 central strand are often very closely related. This goes to show 



