NOTES ON MOSSES. 269 

pitose. Leaves erecto-patent, rarely sub-secund, gradually lanceo- 
late-subulate, sub-denticulate at apex, margin reflexed, nerve slight 
excurrent. Capsule, ovate and cernuous; lid large, with short 
beak; seta-twisted to the right. Dioicous. Male plants smaller, 
with ovate-subulate bract. A variety, B fa//ax (Wilson) or Zenut- 
folium (Bruch), has the leaves more distant, thinner, and narrower, 
with laxer cells and a paler and thinner capsule.—Cotterill Clough 
(Wild) ; whilst var. y. éene//um (Schimp) has slender falcato-secund 
leaves, and var. 8. callistomum is distinguished by its scarcely 
secund-leaves and erect obovate capsules. Castle Mill (Wild). 
Another very common species of this genus is D. heteromalla, 
the Silky-leaved Fork Moss, Fig. 19, growing in extensive silky 
patches on moist banks, roads, and sandstone rocks, and fruiting 
from November to March, Leaves are crowded, secund, lanceo- 
late-setaceous or bristly, and slightly dentate at the apex; nerve 
prodominant; capsule obovate, cernuous, very often bent back- 
wards, and when empty and dry obliquely furrowed, by which 
character, and by the pale fruitstalk, it may always be recognized, 
Dr. Braithwaite gives three varieties of this species; 0. stricta, 
with leaves straight, erecto-patent, seta-elongated ; « znterrupta, 
stems taller and more branched, leaves patent or falcato-secund ; 
and d. sericea, growing in small, bright, green silky tufts, with 
leaves soft, longer, and narrower. 
Allied to the preceding, and growing on wet rocks and stones, 
in shady rivulets, in all the mountainous cloughs round Manchester 
is Dichodontium pellucidum, the Transparent Fork Moss, with two 
vatieties, serratum, Turton near Bolton (Wild), and compactum. 
More nearly approaching the Dicranums in habit is Décranodon- 
tium longirostrum, the Beaked Swan-neck Moss, found in mountain- 
ous woods; rare. Stirrup Wood (Wild). 
Four Mosses, Didymodon rubellus, the reddish Didymodon ; D. 
cylindricus, the slender-fruited Didymodon ; Zrichostomum homo- 
mallum, the curved-leaved, and Z: ¢ortile, the twisted Trichosto- 
mums, belong to the same family as the Tortulas. The first is 
not unfrequent on shady walls and rocks. The reddish hue of the 
lower leaves, from which it derives its name, serves to distinguish 
it from other species greatly resembling it. 
The rare D. cylindricus is found on damp, shady rocks. The 
fruit, which is rarer, is erect, narrow, and cylindrical. Dolgelly 
(Whitehead, Holt), Barmouth (Wild, Holt). Also rare on sandy 
banks and quarries, is Z: sorti/e, named from the slightly twisted 
character of the leaves when dry. 
On Kinder Scout (Holt, Whitehead), Derwentwater (Cash), 
about Snowdon, and on the Scotch mountains is Grimmia Don- 
iana, Don’s Grimmia, after Mr. G. Don. Growing in small, round, 
hoary tufts on rocks and walls, with stems seldom above ¢ inch 

