BRITISH JUNGERMANNIiE. 
( J. laxifolia.J 
JUNGERMANNIA LAXIFOLIA. 
(TAB. LIX.) 
Jungermannia, caule erecto, simpliciusculo, fi'iformi: foliis distantibus, quadrifariis, erecto- 
patentibus, ovatis, subcarinatis, acutb bifidis ; (perichaetialibus similibus) : fructu terminali ; 
calycibus oblongis, subplicatis ; ore contracto, dentato. 
Hab. Mountain rivulet, near Bantry. Miss Hutchins .■ — In a stream upon Castle-Kelly 
mountain, county of Wicklow. Dr. Taylor. — (The capsules are perfected in April. 
Calyces are found during most of the summer months.) 
Plant growing in small, but very dense, green tufts or cushion-like patches. 
Roots (as in .7. compressa) scarcely any ; the few that do exist, are confined to the lower 
part of the stem. 
Stems erect, filiform, flexuose, about half an inch long, extremely slender, 'simple, or beset 
with one or two innovations, uncertain as to their place and length, but always more 
slender than the main stem, and undivided. The substance is tender and flaccid, composed 
of large, conspicuous, oblong cellules; the color a pale green, approaching in some 
instances to olive. 
Leaves (f. 3) distantly and alternately placed, arising from four sides, of large dimen- 
sions when compared with the diameter of the stern, becoming, however, gradually 
smaller as they recede from the apex : the smallest are seen upon the innovations ; they 
are all patent or crecto-patent, ovate, generally slightly carinated, and cleft, for about 
one-third of their length, by an acute sinus, into two equal, rather sharp, but altogether 
entire segments. Their texture is peculiarly soft (if I may be allowed the expression) 
and flaccid ; the reticulation very large, and formed by oblong cellules (f. 4). 
Perichcetial leaves larger than the rest, and, what is remarkable, even more distantly placed 
than the cauline ones, not unfrequently leaving the whole calyx exposed (f. 2). 
Male Fructification unknown. 
Female Fructification terminal, or, if apparently lateral, only rendered so by the circumstance 
of an innovation being produced immediately beneath it. 
