-86- 



members of the Moss Chapter by paying 25 cents annually, but 

 such members shall not be entitled to a separate copy of the Bry- 

 ologist. All revenue for dues, etc., will go directly into the treas- 

 ury of the Chapter, to be expended for the Chapter by the officers 

 elected for that purpose. 



The charter membership roll will remain open until Dec. 10th, 

 1898, and it is expected that there will be a large number of 

 charter members, since the present month is the beginning of a 

 season when the mosses are at their best. 



Only members of the Chapter will be entitled to the mosses 

 offered in the Brvolocist at the rates mentioned therein. 



HE Dicranums include some of our most common and easily 



recognized mosses, and they will be found in perfect fruit 



at the time this issue of the Bryologist reaches our 

 readers. When one knows a single species of this genus, he will 

 have little difficulty in recognizing the others, although it is not so 

 easy to say just what characters give them their distinctive habit. 

 The Dicranums usually grow in dense tufts or cushions which 

 soak up water like a sponge and retain it for a long time. The 

 leaves are usually bent to one side (secund), as if the wind had 

 blown them strongly in one direction (Fig. 1.). They are also 

 usually curved like a scythe or a sickle (falcate). 



The Dicranums are acrocarpous, but the stem grows on after 

 the capsule has begun to develop, thus leaving the seta appar- 

 ently starting from the side of the stem (Fig. 1). This often 

 happens with a acrocarpous mosses, but their erect habit and 

 stems little divided or branched enable the acrocarpous mosses 

 to be distinguished from the pleurocarpous even when sterile. 

 The capsules are on long setae and are either curved (arcuate, 

 Fig. 8) or drooping (cernous), or straight. The operculum is 

 long-beaked (rostrate), and the calyptra smooth and split down 

 one side (cucullate, Fig. 8). The base of the seta is surrounded 

 by a cluster of specialized leaves Cthe perichsetial leaves, Fig. 7). 

 There are perichaetial leaves in the hair-caps, but they are 

 much less strongly differentiated. The peristome is single — that 

 is, it consists of one row of 16 jointed teeth, which are split 

 half way down into two or three prongs (Fig. 9). It is strongly 

 colored and makes a most beautiful microscopic object. Most of 

 the species have at least the lower part of the stem covered with a 



THE DICRANUMS. 



