836 The Jungermannia Section of Liverworts. 



bears on its summit tlie transparent quadrifid capsule. Ireland 

 seems to be the favourite country of this peculiar little plant, 

 where it bas a predilection for tbe stems of fir trees and of tbe 

 dwarf furze, JJlex nanus. It bas also been found at Lowdore by 

 Mr. Wilson and by Sir Cbarles Lyell. Its colour is a yellowish- 

 green. 



Anotber parasite on tbe bark of trees, colouring tbeir trunks 

 with reddish-brown patcbes or blotches, and fruiting during 

 tbe winter and spring, is Jungermannia clilatata, or tbe dilated 

 Jungermannia, tbe most commonly met witb of all tbe Junger- 

 mannia tribe, and also belonging to this group. It bas a creep- 

 ing irregularly brancbed stem, tbe upper lobes of its unequally 

 bi-lobate leaves being roundisb acute, the lower ones roundish 

 saccate. Tbe stipules are roundish, plane, and emarginate ; 

 the fruit is terminal with a triangular, obcordate tuberculated 

 perianth. At a cursory examination this might be confounded 

 with Jungermannia Tamarisci, the Tamarisk-leaved Junger- 

 mannia, as indeed it often is ; but their fruiting season is very 

 different, Tamarisci ripening its capsules in July and August ; 

 it is also of a greener hue, and has a smooth, not tuberculated 

 perianth, longer and more regularly pinnated stems, and is com- 

 monly met with on the ground, or creeping over low bushes. 



And now we come to the Frondose division of the 

 Jungermannia?, which are less numerous than the Foliaceous, 

 but, like them, parcelled out into separate groups, the first 

 of which contains those which are destitute of nerves. These 

 fruit in spring or summer. We shall, therefore, pass on to tbe 

 next group, those furnished with a nerve or costa, and whose 

 perianth is single. And here we have a slender, but very 

 abundant species — Jungermannia furcata, the forked Junger- 

 mannia — which may be found on rocks, on heathy ground, 

 about the roots of trees, or climbing their trunks, and some- 

 times on low bushes. It has a linear frond, as will be seen by 

 the illustration, dichotomous, membranaceous, and costate, 



glabrous or smooth above, 

 but beneath and on the mar- 

 gin more or less hairy, of a 

 tender green hue, and the 

 fronds so crowded together 

 as to give it the appearance 

 of a moss until it is closely 

 examined, when its peculiar 

 form sufficiently distinguishes 

 it. The fruit arises from the 



Example of the Frondose Section of Juneer- • -i -i ,1 i ■ i r> 



mannia. J. furcata. 1, natural size ; 2, a midrib OU the Under Side 01 

 portion magniUed, and bearing the capsule. ^ f von( [ . fc e p cr j ;ll ltll ig 



two-lobed, conduplicate, and has a ciliated margin. Several 



