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The Little-beard Mosses

Genus BARBULA, Hedw.

The species of this genus are found in tufts or cushions tinged with rusty-brown, on stone walls, rocks, tree-trunks and the ground.

The leaves usually much curled and twisted when dry are small, and gradually lance-shaped from an oval base, with a round vein vanishing below or rarely extending beyond the apex; the basal cells are small rectangular and transparent; the upper are small, round or four-sided, often obscure.

The spore-cases are egg-shaped or cylindrical on long pedicels, and have lids with either long or short beaks. The peristome consists of a very short membrane with sixteen short, straight, imperfect teeth, or of sixteen long teeth each cleft to the base into two long slender forks very much twisted.

The generic name from barba, a beard, refers to the long twisted teeth of some species.

There are in all three hundred and ninety-four species, nineteen being found in North America.

The Claw-leaved Barbula, Barbula unguiculata, Hedw.

Habit and habitat.--Common and variable in soft bright or dirty-green tufts on damp black soil, along fences, on rocks, stones, etc.

Name.--The specific name unguiculata from the Latin unguis, a claw, refers to the sharp-pointed leaves.

Plant (gametophyte).--Variable, 1/4 to 1 inch high.

Leaves.--Narrowly oblong, apex obtuse with an abrupt sharp point; vein rough with tiny points and passing beyond the apex; margin rolled back from the middle downward; cells, the upper obscure, nearly square, the basal longer, small, narrow, transparent.

Leaves at the base of the spore-case (perichoetial leaves).--Transparent to near the apex.

Habit of flowering.--Male and female flowers on separate plants (dioicous); male plants more slender, flower-clusters terminal and bud-like, bracts broadly egg-shaped.

Veil (calyptra).--Narrow, long-beaked.

Pedicel (seta).--Brown-red or purple, variable in length.

Spore-case.--Oblong-elliptical or sub-cylindrical, regular or incurved.

Lid (operculum).--Conical, beak long, straight, or curved.

Teeth (peristome).--Long and slender, deep-red and twisted two or three times.

Annulus.--None.

Spores.--Mature in winter or spring.

The Tufted Barbula, Barbula coespitosa, Schwaegr.

Habit and habitat.--Common and variable, roots of trees in grassy places.

Name.--The specific name coespitosa, from the Latin coespes, turf, refers to the tufted manner of growth.

Plant (gametophyte).--Loosely tufted, soft, variable in size.

Leaves.--Long and narrow, more or less wavy, curled or bent in various directions and with a very narrow wavy point when dry; apex bearing a short sharp point; vein strong, yellow, prolonged beyond the leaf-blade; cells, the basal loose and transparent, the upper green and indistinct.

Habit of flowering.--Male and female flowers on the same plant (monoicous); male flowers in axillary buds, with short pedicels and two or three leaves.

Veil (calyptra).--Split up one side.

Spore-case.--Red, thin, long, egg-shaped, more or less incurved.

Pedicel.--Long and slender, twisted when dry.

Lid (operculum).--Conic, taper-pointed.

Teeth (peristome).--Basilar membrane none or scarcely visible; teeth very long, purple, twice or three times twisted.

Annulus.--None.

Spores.--Minute, greenish, translucent, smooth; mature in May and June and late summer.

Distribution.--Hills of the Southeastern States; also in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America

Genus TORTULA, Hedw.

The plants of this genus are variable in size with simple stems forming yellow-green tufts on walls, rocks, or rarely on trees.

The leaves are oblong or spatulate and are covered with tiny protuberances. The apex is obtuse with the vein extending beyond as a point or as a long transparent hair. Toward the apex the cells are six-sided, opaque and filled with chlorophyll grains; toward the base they are transparent and elongated.

The spore-cases are erect, oblong or cylindrical and somewhat incurved on usually long pedicels. The peristome is sometimes absent; when present, it consists of thirty-two thread-like teeth remotely cross-barred and covered with tiny protuberances. The teeth are either straight, incurved, or spirally twisted, all united at the base into a distinct tubular more or less elongated basal membrane. The spores are small and nearly smooth.

The generic name Tortula, the diminutive of the Latin tortus, twisted, refers to the teeth.

Tortula princeps, De Not.

Habit and habitat.--In tall, loose, red-brown tufts on rocks, walls, and sometimes trunks of trees. A fine moss, easily known by its interrupted stems and dense, broad, rust-coloured leaves.

Name.--The specific name princeps, the Latin for "chief" refers to the striking character of the moss. It is described under the name of Barbula Muelleri, Bruch and Schimp., in Lesquereux & James Manual.

Plant (gametophyte).--Stems repeatedly interrupted by new growths with root-like fibres at their bases.

Leaves.--Soft, dense, broad and rust-coloured in interrupted rosettes along the stem and at the summits of the branches; apex obtuse; margin rolled back to below the middle; vein red, extending beyond the apex in a slender transparent, faintly spiny hair-point; cells at the base loose, rectangular and transparent.

Habit of flowering.--Male and female organs in the same flower (synoicous).