m u s c i. 77 



3. METEORIUM, Brid. 



The plants ranged under this genus are very imperfectly known : 

 they all agree in having slender, pendulous stems. 



1. Meteorium flexicaule, Tayl. 



Leskea flexicaule, Tayl. Flo. N. Zeal. p. 101. 



Hab. Savai, Samoan Group. Mountains of Tahiti, Society Islands. 

 Waya-Rua Bay, New Zealand. 



2. Meteorium brasiliense, Stdliv. (Tab. 19.) 



M. dioicum robustum, caule primario repente filiformi apliyllo secun- 

 daria pendulo longissimo ramoso; foliis laxiusculis permagnis e basi 

 cordata orbiculari-ovata amplexante erecta plus minus horizontalibus 

 oblongo-lanceolalis convolutis subito in pilum folio fere duplo longiorem 

 productis subecostatis scariosis rninutissime linear i-areolatis ; flo. ?nasc. 

 etfruct. non visis. 



Meteorium Brasiliense, Sulliv. in Proceed. Amer. Acad. Art. Sci. Jan. 1855. 

 Hab. Organ Mountains, Brazil ; growing on the branches of trees. 



A large moss, with a pendulous mode of growth. Foliage glossy ; 

 the older bright chestnut, the newer pale yellowish-green. Primary 

 stem leafless, radiciform, tomentose with short rootlets ; the secondary 

 stems 2-7 inches in length, rather rigid, flexuous, simple or divided, 

 with a few short branchlets placed mostly at right angles. Leaves 

 nearly three lines in length (including the hair-point), loosely imbri- 

 cating, spreading horizontally, from a large, cordate., orbicular-ovate 

 amplexicaul, and erect base; the horizontal part oblong-lanceolate, 

 the margins strongly inflexed, suddenly tapering into a somewhat 

 ri°id, slightly serrulate hair-point, about as long as the rest of the leaf; 



° ' 20 



