— 9 — 



A REVIEW OF DR. HAGEN'S NORWEGIAN DIGRANACEAE, **DIS- 

 TRIBUTED OCTOBER 13, 1915" 



John M. Holzinger 



This is part XX of the author's "Forarbejder til en Norsk Lovmosflora." 

 It is published as No. i of Det Kgl. Norske Videnskabers Selskabs Skrifter, 

 1914. It is a volume of 192 pages, including index. The taxonomic discussions 

 are in French; notes of ecology and geographic distribution in Norwegian; keys 

 and descriptions in Latin. There are also quotations from German and English 

 authors. 



The interest to North American moss students lies in the fact' that the 

 author has raised to generic rank a number of species, and groups of species, 

 that have been felt to be out of place in the positions assigned to them in the 

 accepted system. Following are the principal departures made by Dr. Hagen: 



1. Cynodontium schisH Lindb. variously referred by authors to Weisia, 

 Rhabdoweisia, Oncophorus, and Cynodontiella, is by the author made the mono- 

 typic genus Cnestrum. Name from the Greek word knestron (xvYjaxpov), a 

 rasp or file. 



2. Metzleria alpina Schimp., made Metzlerella alpina Limpr., violates the 

 Rules of Nomenclature, and Dr. Hagen in consequence proposes Metzlerella 

 alpina (Schimp.). 



3. Cynodontium strumiferum DeNot., for structural reasons, becomes Gong- 

 ronia strumifera (Ehrh., Hedw.), from the Greek word yoyypwvY), for goitre. 



4. Dicranum falcatum Hedw., starkei (W. & M.), glaciale Berggr. (= arc- 

 ticum Sch., with several other synonyms), become Kiaeria falcata (Hedw.), 

 starkei (W. &M.), glacialis (Berggr.). The genus is dedicated to Franz Chris- 

 topher Kiaer, a deserving Scandinavian bryologist. It is also to be noted that 

 Kiaeria starkei is credited with eight varieties, viz., i, var. obtusula n. var. ; 2. 

 var. blyttii (Br. Eur.); 3. var. laxiretis n. var.; 4. var. riparia (Lindb. fil.); 5. var. 

 alpestris n. var.; 6. va.r. fallax n. var.; 7. forma submamillosa n. f. ; 8. var. glacialis 

 (Zett.). 



5. Dicranum montanum Hedw., with its varr. pulvinatum PfefT., and flaccidum 

 (Ryan & Hag.), and Dicranum flagellare Hedw., are raised to the new genus 

 Scytalina, from the Greek word axUTaXiQ for cylinder. 



These dispositions of mostly well known American species of Dicranaceae 

 under the new genera of Cnestrum, Gongronia, Kiaeria, and Scytalina, each with 

 its own well-coined character, commend themselves to systematic students; for, 

 to the writer at least, their dispositions under the former genera has usually been 

 accompanied by a certain mental violence and strain. And Dr. Hagen's course 

 has made it possible for him to improve the keys under the genera. The key 

 to the largest genus, Dicranum, is especially well crystallized and clear. 



Winona, Minn., Nov. 14, 1915. 



