—55— 



in old fields, open grassy places and the like. It is very small and 

 will be easily overlooked. It, also, comes to maturity in June. 



Mrs. Britton has given these two species a much fuller treat- 

 ment in The Observer, and has written a monograph of the spe- 

 cies of Physcomitrium which appears in the Bulletin of the Tor- 

 rey Botanical Club for May, 1894. 



The beginner may perhaps confuse species of Pattia with the 

 urn mosses, especially P. truncalula. In this last species, how- 

 ever, the costa is excurrent, passing out of the apex of the leaf 

 into a short point. The costa is percurrent or excurrent in nearly 

 all of our species of Pattia, and in most the leaf cells are papillose. 

 The Pattias, moreover, mature their capsules in winter. 



MOSSES FOR DISTRIBUTION. 



THE Splachnaceae are of our queerest and most interesting 

 mosses. They are usually found growing on decaying ani- 

 mal matter or nitrogen-containing animal excreta. They 

 are, furthermore, remarkable for the extreme development of the 

 apophysis which never occupies less than half of the capsule and 

 in some species of Splachnum is greatly enlarged as to become 

 umbrella- shaped, reminding the writer of the hood of a cobra. 

 There are a large number of stomata in the outer wall of the 

 apophysis and a large amount of assimilative tissue within, which 

 goes to show that this grotesque outgrowth is another of Nature's 

 devices to provide nourishment for her lowly children. 



For a stamped self -addressed envelope, the following mosses 

 will be sent to members of the Moss Chapter only: Mrs. Britton 

 will send Tetraplodon bryonies, an alpine member of this group ; 

 Mr. A. A. Eaton will send Splachnum ampullaceum ; Mr. J. 

 Warren Huntington will send Buxbaumia aphylla, which was 

 mentioned in a previous article; Mrs. Emilia C. Anthony will send 

 "the white moss" (Leucobryum glaucum) , which grows in con- 

 spicuous whitish cushions in woods throughout our range. This 

 moss is a near relative of the Dicranums as its peristome will show, 

 and it is also remarkable in having its leaves of more than one 

 layer of cells. It is thought by many botanists that these leaves 

 represent the greatly expanded costa, from which the lamina has 

 entirely disappeared. This will not seem improbable to those who 

 have studied the leaves of the long-leaved Dicranum. 



The Cambridge Botanical Supply Co., of Cambridge, Mass., 

 will send Brachythecium asperninutn Mitt. 



For five cents in stamps A. J. Grout will send Fimaria 

 hygrovietrica and Physcomitrium turbinatitm. 



The above specimens are all- fertile. Hereafter when sterile, 

 specimens are offered, st. will be placed after their names. For 

 addresses see list of members. 



