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Herbarium — Part 18

Veil (calyptra).--Hairy, covering the spore-case to the base.

Spore-case.--Erect, egg-shaped, 1/10 of an inch long, with tiny projections on the surface, not contracted below the mouth when dry.

Pedicel (seta).--One-half to one and a half inches long, slender, flexuous, erect.

Lid (operculum).--Hemispherical at the enlarged base, abruptly straight-beaked.

Teeth (peristome).--Thirty-two in number, long and narrow.

Spores.--Mature in winter.

Distribution.--Rare in the mountains of New York, common in the mountains of New England; also along the Gaspe' coast to Newfoundland, west to the Rocky Mountains.

The Urn-bearing Hair-cap Moss, Pogonatum urnigerum, (L.) Beauv.

Habit and habitat.--Pale-green or with a bloom, growing in wide mats but not crowded. On the banks and by streams.

Name.--The specific name urnigerum, urn-bearer, refers to the spore-case.

Plants (gametophyte).--Erect, 1 to 3 inches high, the branches reaching the same height and densely leafy, each branch of the female plant bearing a spore-case. Male plants continue to grow from the centre of the terminal rosette.

Leaves.--Pale-green or brown, lance-shaped, erect when dry, spreading when wet; apex acute; base short, clasping; vein extending slightly beyond the apex of the leaf as an awn; lamellae numerous, 40 to 50; 6 cells high, the terminal oval, with tiny projections (papillose), lower leaves scale-like.

Habit of flowering.--Male and female flowers on the summits of separate plants (dioicous).

Veil (calyptra).--Yellow-brown, covering the spore-case.

Spore-case.--Erect, red-brown, cylindrical or egg-shaped, contracted below the mouth when dry, the surface rough with tiny projections (papillose), the neck nearly smooth.

Pedicel.--Red-yellow, slender, 1 to 1 1/2 inches long.

Lid (operculum).--Broad, conical, beak short and straight, surface rough with tiny projections.

Teeth (peristome).--Thirty-two, symmetrical, short and broad.

Spores.--Mature in autumn and winter.

Distribution.--Universal.

The Alpine Hair-cap Moss, Pogonatum Alpinum, (L.) Roehl.

Habit and habitat.--Growing in wide mats on rough stony and grassy places on all mountains. This is a pretty moss, larger than most Hair-cap mosses and may be readily distinguished from the others by its smooth spore-case, narrower at the mouth than below, obliquely inclined to the red pedicel, and by its veil which does not reach to the base of the spore-case.

Name.--The name refers to its habit of growing in mountain regions.

Plant (gametophyte).--Erect, 2 1/2 to 7 inches high, the branches attaining an equal height, and densely leafy; stems naked and subterranean at the base. Male plants 1 to 2 1/2 inches high.

Leaves.--Erect, or recurved, narrowly lance-shaped; apex awl-shaped, spiny on the back; base white, sheathing, margins incurved, red, serrate; lamellae numerous 20 to 30, covering most of the upper half of the blade, 6 to 7 cells deep, the terminal cell oval in section with tiny projection (papillose).

Leaves at the base of the pedicel (perichaetial leaves).--Sheathing, longer, without lamellae.

Habit of flowering.--Male and female flowers on the summits of separate plants, (dioicous).

Veil (calyptra).--Hairy, not covering the spore-case.

Spore-case.--Nearly cylindrical to egg-shaped, smooth, lightgreen, inclined or horizontal, somewhat curved.

Pedicel (seta).--Flexuose, 1 to 2 inches long.

Lid (operculum).--Small with a slender beak.

Teeth (peristome).--Thirty-two in number, blunt.

Spores.--Mature in late summer.

Distribution.--In mountainous regions.