The Genus Fissidens ; or, the Flat Fork-Mosses. 357 



"We have found it in great abundance on a rock just above 

 Longfords Lake, under the shade of trees in Gratcoro.be Wood, 

 Gloucestershire. 



As an example of the terminal-fruited section, we may 

 instance the common flat fork-moss, Fissidens bryoides, to be 

 met with almost everywhere, even in the sandy deserts of 

 Africa, where its exquisite beauty and wondrous structure 

 spoke so eloquently to the heart of the renowned traveller, 

 Mungo Park, at a time when, worn with fatigue, plundered by 

 banditti, and surrounded by all the horrors of the desert, his 

 sinking courage had well-nigh failed, and he threw himself 

 down to rest his weary limbs and ponder on his destitute con- 

 dition. He says himself, after describing his state — " At this 

 moment, painful as my reflections were, the extraordinary 

 beauty of a small moss irresistibly caught my eye ; and though 

 the whole plant was not larger than the tip of one of my fin- 

 gers, I could not contemplate the delicate conformation of the 

 roots, leaves, etc., without admiration. Can that Being, I 

 thought, who planted, watered, and brought to perfection, in 

 this obscure part of the world, a thing of so small importance, 

 look with unconcern upon the situation and sufferings of crea- 

 tures formed after his own image ? Surely not ! Reflections 

 such as these would not allow me to despair. I started up, 

 and disregarding both hunger and fatigue, travelled forwards, 

 assured that relief was at hand, and I was not disappointed." 



Such is Mungo Park's own account of the incident, and 

 from original specimens of the moss given by his brother-in- 

 law, Mr. Dickson, to our celebrated botanist Hooker, the latter 

 was able to ascertain the species as Fissidens bryoides, which 

 we will now proceed briefly to describe. The general structure 

 and arrangement of its leaves sufficiently characterize the 

 family group to which it belongs, but it is smaller than either 

 of those already noticed, the stems rarely averaging more than 

 from two lines to half an inch long. The barren flowers are 

 numerous, gemmiform and axillary, never terminal, which the 

 fertile flower is, producing a symmetrical capsule on a red seta, 

 and having a red peristome with a persistent rudimentary 

 annulus and a rostellate lid. The leaves are spreading, widely 

 lanceolate, apiculate, and with a thick cartilaginous border. 

 It is met with in fructification at various seasons, but particu- 

 larly in the winter months, December, January, and February, 

 and its exquisite beauty cannot fail to strike with admiration 

 any one who will bestow upon it an attentive examination. 

 All the family, in common with the Dicranums, possess sixteen 

 bifid teeth. For a description of the latter, see the Intellectual 

 Observer for November. 



The remaining members of the group are F. ezilis, slender 



vol. rv. — no. v. B B 



