CRYPTOGAMIA. MUSCI. Hypnum. 
1079 
manner in which the Moss envelops them, frequently growing from eight 
to twelve inches long, and producing thecas in the greatest profusion. E.) 
P. Feb.—April. 
H. atro-vi'rens. Shoot ceeping, branched: leaves egg-spear-shap¬ 
ed, limber: capsules inversely-egg-shaped, fringed, drooping. 
Dicks, ii. 10. 
{Muse. Brit. xxvi.— E. Bot. 2422. E.) — Bill. 43. 67. 
{Stems variously branched, procumbent. Leaves , all of them slightly se¬ 
cond, broadly ovate, with an attenuated obtuse point, the nerve running 
nearly to the summit. Capsule ovate, cernuous. Lid conical. Muse. 
Brit.; not subulate. Hook. E.) 
(Dull-green Feather-moss. In Muse. Brit. H. jilameniosum, and at- 
tenuatum , Dicks., are not allowed to be distinct from the present species ; 
and Dill. 43. 67., usually referred to our plant, is therein said to be a very 
distinct species, from Virginia. E.) Woods, at the roots of trees, and on 
rocks in mountainous countries. 
G. (1) Shoots crowded: capsules tipright. 
H, SERi'cEUM. Shoots branched, creeping: leaves oblong, hair-pointed, 
tiled, capsules cylindrical: lid taper-pointed, bent. 
Hedw. Stirp. iv. 17— Dill. 42. 59— Curt. 126— {E. Bot. 144 5 —Muse. Brit. 
xxv. E)— H. Ox. xv. 5, row 4. 25— Vaill. 27. 3. a. h. — Gars. 639. 
Grows so firmly to the trunks of trees that it can scarcely be taken away 
entire. Linn. Shoots long, creeping, crowded, greatly branched. Branches 
short, roundish. Leaves slender, very closely tiled, ending in long hairs. 
Fruit-stallcs half to one inch high, lateral, crowded. Involucrum short, 
thick, scaly. Capsules long, nearly cylindrical, but thickest at bottom, 
upright. Mouth narrow, fringe white. Lid beaked. Veil pale. Weis. 
Branches mostly pointing one way. Leaves soft, shining. Dill. With 
two or three ribs, which distinguish it from H. plumosum. 
(Soft Ribbed-leaved Feather-moss. E.) Leskea sericea. Hedw. On 
the ground on dry banks, trunks of trees, and walls. P. Sept.—April.* 
H. myqsu'ron. Shoots very much branched, awl-shaped, crooked, ta¬ 
pering upwards and downwards. 
Hedw. Stirp. iv. 8— {E. Bot. \5QQ~—Musc. Brit. xxv. E.)— Dill. 41. 50— 
H. Ox. xv. 5. 27— Vaill. 28. 4. 
Stem two to four inches long; branched towards the end. Leaves closely 
tiled, egg-spear-shaped, hair-pointed. Involucrum, short, slender, scaly. 
Capsides upright or leaning. Weis. Shoots thin, creeping, sending out 
* (None of our Mosses afford a more beautiful carpet ; it frequently exhibits all the 
richness and softness of silk, especially when dry. Curt. Some such plant as this is not 
only described, but depicted ad vivuni in Gerard, as “ Mu&cus ex craneo hamano ,” and 
when thus found “ upon the scull or bare scalpes of men and women, lying long in char¬ 
nel! houses, it is thought to be a singular remedie against the falling evill,”—a remedy, 
truly, fit only to rank with other incomprehensible absurdities, superstitiously connected 
with the touch of executed malefactors, the blood of martyrs, the spells of witchcraft, or 
the black art itself, which may occasionally appear, by the aid of an overheated imagina¬ 
tion, to work wonders. E.) 
