-98- 



A MOSS? 



By Alice L. Crockett. 

 There were capsules, quantities of them, each on the summit of a slen- 

 der seta, and crowded together in little tufts. They were too small to be dis- 

 tinctly seen by the naked eye, but a magnifying glass made them very clear, 

 and I fancied I could see the operculum, but not a leaf was to be found. I 

 clung to the hope that it might be moss, though there was enough of mys- 

 tery about it to arouse a provoking doubt. It was found in June, 1900, 

 among the short grass, weeds and moss growing on low land near the brook 

 that empties from our frog pond. During the winter I sent a bit to Mrs. 

 Smith, but her microscope revealed to her things I had not seen — things that 

 were puzzling — bryum leaves and other things, and she asked for better 

 material. It was May before I found it again and sent a fresh supply. Mrs. 

 Smith and others enjoyed a series of interesting investigations. Meanwhile 

 I was watching developments. After a few weeks the capsules gradually 

 disappeared and a fine grass-like growth showed itself. A single tuft of the 

 moss that I had transferred to a flower pot also became grass. Whether 

 there were two things growing together, or the two were one, was the 

 •question for me to solve, and it did seem as though the two were on one root. 

 Finally the grass flowered and fruited, and then the revelation came. The 

 seeds were very fine, but a lens showed them to be exact counterparts of the 

 first capsules. There was one way on which I could satisfy myself, and I 

 proceeded to prepare a tin can of clean soil, in which I scattered some of the 

 seeds and covered it with a piece of window glass. Then doubt and convic- 

 tion struggled for the mastery as I watched for the sprouting of the seeds — 

 and it was conviction that triumphed as one morning I found the soil covered 

 with like capsules of my first finding, only they were not in tufts, as they 

 grew naturally, but evenly distributed, each one standing by itself. The 

 baby plant in rising from the ground had lifted its former habitation se- 

 curely fixed up on its head, and continued to hold it in position for some 

 time. Quickly following this came word from Mrs. Smith that the specimen 

 had been determined by Prof. C. H. Peck to be a vMsh., /uncus bufonius. I 

 had lost my moss, but found a new and interesting acquaintance. 



Camden, Me. 



CLiriACIUn DENDROIDEUn FOR fllLLlNERY. 



Miss Clark's notes on mosses for millinery has suggested that perhaps 

 it may be of interest to note that last spring there was offered for sale at 

 McCreery's in New York City, bunches of Climacium dendroideum, 

 fastened to wires by their stems, and colored a brighter green than they 

 naturally are. It has also been known that Hylocojnium proliferum has 

 been used in the manufacture of Moss-roses. 



Mrs. E. G. Britton. 



