194 



BRITISH MOSSES. 



Plate XXXII. 



HYPNEiE. 

 Part I. 



Fig. 1. Characteristics op Order. 



Mosses pleurocarpous, very variable in size and appearance, stems branched 

 and mostly pinnate, and matted together in fleeces. Capsule (a) smooth, curved, 

 cernuous, mostly horizontal, lid conical, rostrate ; calyptra divided at the side. 

 Peristome (b) very large and well defined ; strongly hygroscopic, the outer of 

 sixteen teeth, broad, lanceolate-acuminate, with prominent bars (trabecules) on 

 the inner side, marked with a line down the middle ; the inner a membrane in 

 sixteen divisions, often perforated, alternating with the outer teeth, and having 

 cilia between them. The inner peristome is in all mosses a kind of continuation 

 of the membrane, lining the true seed-vessel (sporangium) . Many species of 

 Hypnum being dioicous, the fruit is very rare, even when the species itself is 

 common. Areolas (c) mostly long and undulated, but occasionally dot-like. 



From their great abundance and conspicuous aspect some species of Hypnum 

 are likely to be among the first to attract the amateur. The distinctions of the 

 smaller species will be difficult at first, but may soon be mastered. Many 

 divisions of the genus have been made, but the arrangement of the "Bryologia 

 Britannica," has been followed here. 



A. Leaves spreading every way. 

 1. Stems creeping, branched irregularly, or pinnate. 



Fig. 2. Hypnum nitens. 

 Shining Feather Moss (a-) . 

 Colour. Yellow green, shining. 



Stems. Erect, pinnate, with purple radicles ; branches short. 



