
268 THE NORTHERN MICROSCOPIST. 


or coloured cells at the basal angles of the leaf; also the name, 
diminutive of Dicranum, indicating their smaller character. 
Five of the species fruiting about this time are not common, 
viz., D. crispa, D. Schreberi, D. rufescens, D. subulata, and D. 
curvata. D. crispa, the curled-leaved Fork Moss, from its crisped 
state when dry, is found on moist banks and sandy soil, growing 
in patches, of a pale green colour; stems short, not } inch high ; 
leaves widely spreading, subulate or almost bristly (setaceous), 
wavy, glossy and predominant nerve; capsule oval, erect on a 
reddish fruitstalk, of regular form and furrowed when dry. — Ash- 
ley, near Bowdon (Wild). The fruit seems to be very persistent, 
having been gathered at Handforth in February, by Mr. Cash. Fig. 
18. D. Schreberi, Schreber’s Fork Moss, is a miniature resemblance 
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Fig. 18. Fig. 19. Fig. 20. Fig. 21. 
of D. squarrosa, differing only in the narrower leaves, which more 
suddenly dilate and are sheathing below. Found near Irlam 
(Wilson), also at Ashley, with the variety D. e/ata (Wild). A rare 
Moss is JD. subulata, the Awl-leaved Fork Moss ; Sailors-shore, 
near Radcliffe (Wild); and extremely rare, DY. curvata, Llan- 
beris (Wilson). 
A very elegant Moss, found on moist banks, chiefly in sandy 
soil, and not rare in the neighbourhood of Manchester, is D. rufe- 
scens, the Reddish Fork Moss. It is similar in habit to D. varia, 
but known by the pale reddish hue of the whole plant, and by the 
oppositely twisted fruitstalk. Stems bright red; leaves pellucid 
and loosely cellular, with plain margins, obscurely toothed. Cap- 
sule smooth, erect, reddish, with a short neck. ‘Teeth of peristome 
closely barred. 
One of the commonest species of the genus is J. varia, the 
variable Fork Moss, found from October to February, on damp 
clay fields, banks of ditches, and sometimes on rocks. Several 
forms, differing in size and tint, may be found growing together in 
one tuft. 
The normal form is of a yellowish green colour, short and czs- 
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