- 56 - 



pearance of the operculum of a dry capsule from which the spores are 

 escaping. The loosely twisted mesh of the narrow teeth forms a perfect 

 sieve to control the escape of the spores. If you place a peristome in this 

 condition under the microscope without mounting medium or cover glass 

 and breathe upon it the teeth will straighten perceptibly. If you dip it 

 in warm water it will assume the original position shown in Fig. 7, if it be 

 comparatively fresh ; if it be rather old and somewhat broken it may look 

 like Fig. 6. The perfect cone in Fig. 7 is of course a waterproof covering for 

 the spores inside. 



In a succeeding paper the structure and development of the peristome 

 of Barbula will be taken up. 



FISSIDENS QRANDIFRONS, ITS HABITS AND PROPAGATION. 



By E. J. Hill. 



In July, 1901, Fissidens grandifrojis Brid., was obtained from the face of 

 a cliff along the Illinois River, near Utica, 111. It forms part of the ledge 

 famed in Indian legend as " Starved Rock." The bed of moss was kept wet 

 by water oozing from the rock. The stems were uncommonly short, 

 1.5-4 cm., the average but 2 or 3 cm. long. The leaves were about 3X.4-. 5 

 mm., or about the size of those in specimens from Boyne Falls, Mich. They 

 are smaller than those of robust plants from a creek near Bear Lake, Manis- 

 tee Co., Mich. (1880), which are 4X.6-.7 mm. These plants were as usual 

 without fruit, but a careful search disclosed a couple of female flowers, 

 one of which is shown (Fig. i ). There were 10 or 12 archegonia, .6-.8 mm. 

 long. Authorities generally give them as numerous, 30-60 by some. No 

 paraphyses were seen. The perichsetial leaves taper rather abruptly from a 

 broadly oval base to a point of variable length, the point in the longer ones 

 similar to the vertical lamina of an ordinary leaf, but relatively narrower. 

 Flowers in F. g7'andifrons are rare. Schimper mentions them as occurring 

 on specimens from Niagara Falls; Boulay, as noticed by Spruce and one or 

 two others on plants from the region of the Pyrenees Mts.; Limpricht, for 

 the territory embraced by his Mossflora. Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, 

 gives only male flowers as occurring. The fruit, as already stated by Mrs. 

 Britton in The Bryologist for July, 1900, has been found but once, in plants 

 from the N. W. Himalayas. 



The plants make compensation for this by asexual propagation. Those 

 from " Starved Rock" produce axillary buds which grow into rooting shoots. 

 They are found in all stages of development from those just beginning, to 

 shoots with several pairs of leaves (Fig. 3-6). The rhizoids start when 

 the buds are very small and the leaves scale-like, as short blunt brown pro- 

 cesses. They spring from the edges and base of the leaves as well as from 

 the base of the bud-stem and lengthen as the shoot grows. In all cases ob- 

 served these shoots take the place of branches and ultimately become a 

 rooting branch. Owing to the conditions under which the plants were grow- 

 ing on the cliff, they do not generally become detached but strike root and 

 remain in place, forming new stems to replace the old ones, which are brown 



