— 18— 



dinia in 1826 and afterwards in other parts of southern Europe were referred to 

 it. Brotherus gives the general distribution as southern Europe, Caucasus, 

 Algiers, North America, Jamaica and Brazil (Engler and Prantl. Nat. Pflanzen- 

 fam. 13: 397). In his re-examination of the types of Hedwig and Schwaegrichen, 

 Cardot says under Barhula caespitosa, ''Ne differe pas de la forme mediterran- 

 ienne. " (Bull. Herb. Boiss. 7: 304. 1899.) Since the annulus is found in Eu- 

 ropean forms and these are identified with those from America it follows that 

 one should be looked for in American forms. Having found it in the examples 

 from Dune Park I was led to examine those I have from other localities. The 

 majority were not promising, being either too old or too young. One taken in 

 July, 1875, within the present limits of Chicago looked favorable, the capsules 

 ripe and the lid still in place. A capsule was put on a slide under the dissecting 

 microscope, the lid carefully removed and the parts placed under a cover glass 

 and transferred to the stage of a compound microscope. The parts of the broken 

 and detached annulus were readily found. I should hardly expect to see one 

 in place, it comes off so easily, nor find it except in some such way as the above. 

 [This fully accounts for the diversity of statement. Ed.] Evidently it is easily 

 overlooked unless the peristome is carefully manipulated. The moss in this 

 region ripens its spores in June and July and capsules can then be found with 

 the opercula still attached. Schwaegrichen gives August as the time those 

 from Pennsylvania were collected by Muhlenberg. It would be advisable that 

 those who collect this species examine it for the annulus. 

 Chicago, III. 



EGGS OF A MITE IN EMPTY CAPSULES OF ORTHOTRICHUM 



PUSILLUM 



Frank J. Keeley 



From the bark of an old willow tree near Wycombe in Bucks county, Penn- 

 sylvania, I collected on the 30th of May, 1912, specimens of the moss Orthotri- 

 chum pusillum, which exhibited curious conditions. 



In the first mount I made of this Orthotrichum the capsules were either 

 empty or filled with oval spore masses, some of which had escaped in the pro- 

 cess of mounting, leaving them isolated in the glycerine jelly. These had not 

 been broken up by the boiling to which they had been subjected in mounting. 



They seemed so anomalous, however, that I decided to carefully examine 

 the remaining material. In making some additional mounts I found unopened 

 capsules in which the spores were not aggregated into such oval masses. This 

 indicated that there was something ''funny" about the latter. 



A little study of unmounted material solved the problem. The moss was 

 infested with small mites; they had selected the open cap ules in which to lay 

 their oval transparent eggs. The latter were sufficiently glutinous to cement 

 to them a layer of spores, so strongly adherent that even boiling failed to re- 

 move hem. Some of the capsules were practically filled with such eggs. 



