USNEA. 



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remarkable is that denominated var. articulaia ; it is said 

 sometimes to be pendulous from old trees : our own speci- 

 mens were prostrate, spreading over the sandy soil of Ex- 

 mouth Downs ; they are from the herbarium of Don. It 

 differs from the others no less in the breadth and inflated 

 character of the nodes, or articulation, into which its fila- 

 ments are divided, than in its size; we have seen speci- 

 mens attaining about two feet in one direction and one in 

 the other. It has been familiarly termed par excellence the 

 " Necklace Moss," but this name has probably been more 

 commonly applied to less rare varieties, in which annular 

 decortication is also frequent. The economical applications 

 of U. barbata are not important, but they are numerous and 

 varied. In some parts of the world it is eaten by wild 

 animals, or is collected and preserved as winter fodder for 

 domestic animals. Bartram states that in Pennsylvania it 

 has been used to yield an orange dye, and Humboldt men- 

 tions its use as a dye species in South America. It appears 

 to have enjoyed great celebrity in medicine, though cer- 

 tainly not from any real advantages which it possesses ; it 

 was at one time much used as an astringent, tonic, and 

 diuretic ; it became a favourite remedy in hooping-cough, 

 and under the name of "Muscus arborei, seu querni," was 



