258 Mosses to be Found in May. 



MOSSES TO BE FOUND IN MAY.— CORD-MOSSES 

 AND APPLE-MOSSES. 



BY M. G. CAMPBELL. 



The common cord-moss (Funaria hygrometrica) , which crowns 

 our walls and banks almost everywhere, feels the genial power 

 of May, and hastens to ripen and pour out the little seeds that 

 have been hitherto so snugly encased in its pear-shaped capsule, 

 and whose mouth, obliquely placed, and turning towards the 

 earth, seems conveniently ready for their exit as soon as the 

 little trencher-like lid has fallen off, and the large dehiscing 

 annulus has unrolled, which latter act takes place immediately^ 

 on the fall of the lid. 



It is true that every month in the year weaves its own moss-, 

 wreath, brings its own favourites to perfection, and that, there- 

 fore, many a change, many an operation of marvel and of beauty, 

 is continually going on around us, and as continually lost to 

 the casual observer. But we invite our readers to a microscopic 

 examination of the genus Funaria, and especially Funaria hygro- 

 metrica, which is so easily procurable, as excellent examples of 

 the structure and arrangement of the inflorescence and fructifica- 

 tiqn of mosses in general. The Funaria} are named from funis, 

 a rope, cable, or cord, in allusion to the twisting of the seta in 

 this genus, giving the appearance of a twisted cord. 



They are acrocarpous, sub-biennial and loosely csespitose 

 mosses, with a stem at first simple, and crowned by a barren 

 discoid flower ; subsequently they become branched,, and ter- 

 minate in fertile flowers, each producing a solitary capsule, 

 obliquely pyriform, sub-ventricose, and of thick texture, with a 

 mouth always more or less oblique, and often small, surrounded 

 by a double peristome of sixteen divisions each ; the outer con- 

 Sisting of sixteen oblique, lanceolate-tapering teeth, having 

 numerous prominent trabecules on the inner side, and all con- 

 nected at their apices by a small, reticulated, and circular disc. 

 These teeth arc also Longitudinally marked with fine striae, and 

 have, the property of being remarkably hygrometric, spreading 

 outwards in drying after the rupture of the connecting mem- 

 brane. 



The inner peristome is, at its base, somewhat coherent to 

 I lie outer. Jt is also divided into sixteen processes, placed 

 opposile to the outer teeth, of a lanceolate form, and each 

 marked with a medial or vertical line. The lid is conical or 

 obtusely convex; the annulus, when present, large, and un- 

 rolling spindly, but in some species it is entirely absent. The 

 leaves are of thin texture, consisting of large succulent, oblong- 



