114 LEUCODONTACEAE 



cavities in decaying wood especially knotholes in living trees. 

 Cheshire, Hamden, and New Haven, Bry. Ct. Should be found 

 nearer. 



Clasmatodon parvulns (Hampe) Sull. and Fabronia octoblepharts (Schleich.) 

 Schwaegr. are found at the Delaware Water Gap. 



Family 24. LEUCODONTACEAE 



Tree-growing mosses, rarely found on rocks, often julaceous 

 and glossy; main stems slender, creeping, irregularly branching; 

 secondary stems numerous, horizontal to drooping and out- 

 wardly curved, paraphyllia lacking in most species; leaves of 

 secondary stems ovate to ovate-lanceolate, concave, costate or 

 ecostate, entire or nearly so, closely imbricate when dry, spread- 

 ing when moist, not papillose; leaf cells short, roundish-oval to 

 fusiform in the middle portion of the leaf; perichaetial leaves 

 long-sheathing, seldom much shorter than the seta and often 

 extending beyond the capsule; capsules erect and symmetric, 

 mostly ovoid; peristome simple. 



Key to Genera 



1 — Secondary stems little branched; calyptra not hairy 2 



Secondary stems freely branching, often subpinnate; calyptra 

 hairy Forsstroemia 



2 — Plants very slender; capsule immersed; seta almost lacking Cryphea 



Plants stouter; seta much longer than capsule Leucodon 



LEUCODON Schwaegr. 



The various species of Leucodon grow almost exclusively on 

 the bark of deciduous trees, very rarely are any found on dry 

 rocks. The Leucodons are seemingly able to do without moist- 

 ure for considerable periods, as they rarely or never grow at the 

 base of trees, but at a height of five or six feet and above. The 

 main stems are long, slender, branching, almost filiform, with 

 minute leaves and abundant rhizoids. The secondary stems 

 are numerous, suberect, horizontal, or hanging downward and 

 curved outward, usually julaceous and nearly simple; para- 

 phyllia lacking. Leaves many ranked, concave, with margins 

 recurved below, ecostate, entire or slightly serrulate at apex, 



