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Herbarium — Part 19

Name.-- Carl Ludwig Willdenow named this pretty moss juniperinum from its resemblance to tiny Juniper trees.

Plant (gametophyte).--Simple or forked, erect, 1 to 4 inches high from subterranean shoots.

Leaves.-- Erect, when dry, spreading when moist, lance-like; apex a rough red awn; base enlarged and sheathing; vein rough; margins entire, inflexed lamelloe 40 to 50, 5 to 6 cells deep; cells square in section, the terminal 3-toothed. Bracts of male flower-cluster short and abruptly awned.

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

Habit of flowering.-- Male and female flowers on separate plants (dioicious).

Veil (calyptra).-- Large, covering the spore-case.

Spore-case. -- Erect, finally horizontal, 4-angled; apophysis small, red, shield-like.

Pedicel (seta). -- Red-orange, becoming brown, stout, glossy, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches high.

Lid (operculum).--Red, flattened-convex with a short beak.

Teeth (peristome).--Pale, symmetrical, rather short, sixty-four in number.

Spores.--Ripe in summer.

Distribution.--From Florida to Alaska, also in Europe.

The Common Hairy-cap, Polytrichum commune, L.--See Colour Plate X.

Habit and habitat.--This moss is widely distributed and attains its largest size in peat-bogs where it may usually be recognised by the long stems covered below by the silvery bases of the leaves and by the angular spore-case which bears a flat disk at the base. It has the distinction of being one of a few mosses which have served in the economy of the household. In the north of England the plants are made into small dusting brooms and mats. Withering states that the plants are used for bedding by bears, and Carolus Linnaeus, the renowned Swedish botanist, is said, while on a trip in the North, to have used the dry plants as stuffing for his pillow and mattress and to have recommended it as not harbouring fleas and infectious diseases.

Name.--The specific name commune, common, describes the general distribution of this moss.

Plant (gametophyte).--Tall, 6 to 18 inches high; dark-green or red-brown. The male plants often with the flower-heads in an ascending series of five to six, marking the age of the plant; stems simple, rarely forking; below, leafless, with the basal portions of old leaves adhering; growth erect from the centre of the male heads or directly from the ground.

Leaves.--Crowded above, about 3/4 of an inch long; apex spreading and recurved, lance-shaped and pointed, base enlarged, white, glossy, sheathing; vein rough on the back and bearing from 50-60 lamellae on the upper surface; margin inrolled when dry, serrate; lamelloe 5 to 6 cells deep, the terminal the largest, semilunar or concave in section.

Leaves at the base of the pedicel (perichoetial leaves).--White, 3/4 of an inch long, without lamellae; awn long and horny.

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

Veil (calyptra).--Covered with long silky hairs, concealing the spore-case.

Spore-case.--Erect, finally horizontal, 4-angled; apophysis distinct, disk-like.

Pedicel (seta).--Stout, 2 1/2 to 4 inches long.

Lid (operculum).--Flattened with an acute point at the centre.

Teeth (peristome).--Sixty-four, blunt at the apex, continuous at the base. United at the tips with a thin disk (epiphragm).

Spores.--Red-brown, ripe in summer.

Distribution.--Universal.

Genus DIPHYSCIUM, Mohr

The species of the Genus Diphyscium are minute stemless plants growing scattered on the ground and on rocks. The leaves are strap-shaped or lance-shaped with a vein. The cells are 2 to 3 layers deep. The leaves at the base of the spore-cases are large, saw-toothed or cut into a ragged fringe.

The spore-cases are immersed or exserted on an inconspicuous pedicel, they are oval and taper-pointed, oblique and swollen on one side, with a conical lid. The outer teeth are none, or rudimentary and the inner membrane forms a pale blunt cone of 16 twisted folds.

The name, from twice, and a vesicle, refers to the double wall of the spore case, which is due to the spore-sac being widely separated from the outer wall.

There are eleven species known in all, one of them being found in North America.

The Leafy Diphyscium, Diphyscium foliosum, Mohr.

Habit and habitat.--Dark-green, widely tufted; growing on clay soil and shady banks along roads, also on rocks.

Name.--From the Latin foliosus, leafy.

Plant (gametophyte).--Simple with short stems.

Leaves.--Strap-shaped, thick, or curled in various directions when dry, vein (costa) present; margin roughened with minute projections above and sometimes with a few distinct teeth, cells small and containing leaf-green.

Leaves at the base of the spore-case.--Ovate lance-shaped, membranous, and without leaf-green; vein excurrent, forming a bristle point almost as long as the blade of the leaf.

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

Veil.--Acute, conical, covering the lid.

Spore-case.--Immersed in colourless leaves; swollen on oneside, ovate, lance-shaped, yellowish-green.

Pedicel (seta).--Very short.

Lid (operculum).--Conical, acute.

Teeth (peristome).--Double, the outer short, triangular, grainy, and with transverse bars, often perforated in the middle, pale-yellow, purple at the apex; the inner membranaceous, and forming a blunt cone of twisted folds.