

NOTES ON MOSSES. 271 

with a sheathing base, minutely toothed at the apex; capsule 
roundish, reddish-brown, wide mouthed when dry. Delamere 
(Cash Holt.) Its columella is cylindrical, not winged, distinguish- 
ing it from P. alvides, the aloe-leaved Hair Moss, whose columella 
is four-winged; the capsule ovate-oblong with conico-rostellate 
lid ; calyptra covered with whitish hairs. Common round Man- 
chester. 
P. urnigerum, the Urn-fruited Hair Moss, is principally found 
on mountainous banks and sides of streams, growing in pale, 
glaucous green patches. Stems 1-4 inches high, branched above, 
reddish below. Leaves erect when dry ; lanceolate, acute, serrated ; 
lamellce suddenly thickened at the edges ; capsule erect, subcylin- 
drical, regular, granulated on the surface; lid convex, rostrate. 
Wilson says: ‘This species may in general be known by the foliage 
being glaucous above and reddish below, and by the neat cylindri- 
cal capsules. Delamere (Cash, Wild, Holt.) 
The only remaining species of this genus, which are all dioicous, 
is P. alpinum, the Alpine Hair Moss, found fruiting in June in 
sub-alpine regions. Leaves linear-lanceolate, concave, sharply 
serrated, and spinulose at the back ; capsule roundish, dark olive 
brown, blackish when old ; teeth of the peristome short, pale and 
narrow ; lid with a long beak. Fo. Edge, near Bury (Perceval.) 
One of the prettiest, as well as one of the commonest mosses in 
fruit this month is Bryum argenteum, the silvery Thread-Moss, 
found everywhere on roofs and walls, on the ground, by way-sides, 
&c. This little moss is sure to have attracted the attention of 
every passer-by during the last few months growing in white silvery 
patches at the base of walls and houses, wherever the slightest 
trace of earth and damp could be found; in fact so general is this 
harbinger of vegetation that it forms one of the five discovered by 
Dr. Hooker at the Ultima Thule of Antarctic vegetation, Cockburn 
Island, lat. 60°. 24’.S. The stems are 4%—1 inch long, slender 
and fragile. Leaves imbricate, broadly ovate, mostly with a short 
point (apiculate), concave, entire, nerve ceasing considerably below 
the apex. Fruit-stalk about half-an-inch long, rather suddenly bent 
near its junction with the capsule, which is oval-oblong, its neck 
not tapering, but abruptly passing into the fruit-stalk of a purplish 
or reddish colour when ripe. Lid convex, obscurely pointed. 
Dioicous. Two varieties are given by Schimper, viz., 5. mayus: 
Stems longer, leaves greenish without points, and ¢. J/anatum, 
smaller leaves with long points, without chlorophyll; silvery white; 
peculiar to warm climates. 
Resembling 2B. argenteum in aspect, but longer, and always with 
a considerable tinge of red is Zieria julacea; the Zierian Thread 
Moss, found in the crevices of mountainous rocks—Bowness 
(Atkinson). | 
