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The Long-beaked Hypnum

HYPNUM: Sub-genus EURHYNCHIUM, Schimp.

The species of this genus are robust, glossy plants, more or less feather-branched, prostrate or creeping.

The leaves are open, overlapping as shingles; they resemble the bowl of a spoon, with the apex abruptly drawn out into a slender point and the margin serrate all around; a vein extends to the middle or beyond; the cells are smooth or slightly covered in a few species with tiny protuberances, they are narrowly rhomboidal, somewhat worm-like and enlarged at the basal angles. The leaves at the base of the pedicel have root-like filaments.

The spore-cases are oval-oblong nodding or horizontal, on a smooth or rough pedicel, with lids more or less long-beaked. This character suggested the generic name from the Greek ??, well, and ??, a beak. The annulus is compound or rarely none.

Seventy-four species are known in all, nineteen in North America.

Hypnum (Eurhynchium) Boscii, Schwaegr.-- See Plate XXVI.

Habit and habitat.-- A very beautiful and easily identified moss, growing in thick soft-golden cushions or in loose thin mats on the ground among grass or on the ground and on rocks in shady places and open fields.

Name.-- The specific name Boscii was given by D. Fridericus Schwaegrichen, in honour of Louis Augustin Guillaume Bosc, a distinguished naturalist.

Plants.-- Stems prostrate, somewhat pinnately branching; branches mostly simple, inflated, blunt, and cylindrical by the arrangement of the leaves.

Leaves.-- Thin, dry and shining, closely overlapping, oblong-oval, very concave; apex narrowed to a twisted slender point; base clasping; margin finely serrate to the base; cells narrowly linear, those of the base shorter, thick and yellow-brown.

Leaves at the base of the pedicel.-- Narrowly long taper-pointed.

Habit of flowering.-- Male and female flowers on the same plant (monoicous).

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

Spore-case.-- Brown, oblong, erect-incurved, gradually narrowed into the pedicel, strongly arched under the mouth when dry.

Pedicel (seta).-- Smooth, red to red-brown, slightly twisted to the right.

Lid (operculum).-- Conic, the beak about 1/2 the length of the urn.

Teeth (peristome).-- As in the genus Hypnum.

Annulus.-- Compound.

Spores.-- Mature in autumn.

Distribution.-- Vermont to Florida and Louisiana, west to Missouri and Illinois.

HYPNUM: Sub-genus PLAGIOTHECIUM, Schimp.

The species of this genus are partly prostrate, irregularly branching plants with rooting stems. They are soft and variable in size.

The leaves are thin, glossy and mostly entire; a vein is wanting or double; very short and thin; the cells are long and narrowly rhomboidal hexagonal; larger at the base. Male and female flowers are usually found on the same plant.

The veil is narrow and falls early. The spore-case is somewhat erect, oblique or almost horizontal, oval-oblong to cylindrical, somewhat arched, short-necked, thin, smooth or rarely wrinkled when dry.

The teeth are whitish. The name is derived from the Greek ??, oblique, and ??, a little chest, referring to the spore-case.

Plagiothecium Muellerianum, Schimp.

Habit and habitat.-- This moss is found in rocky ravines; it grows in loose, bright and shining green tufts.

Name.-- The specific name, Muellerianum, was given by William Schimper in honour of Baron Ferdinand Mueller, Government botanist of Australia.

Plant (gametophyte).--Very small; stems with runners, creeping, with branches erect, rooting at the base and sometimes at the apex.

Leaves.--In two rows, spreading, concave, ovate-lance-shaped at the base, taper-pointed, with an abrupt, short, acute point; margin entire; vein wanting; base not growing down the stem; cells narrow, uniform.

Leaves at the base of the pedicel (perichoetial leaves).--Half-clasping at the base, oblong-ovate, taper-pointed, entire.

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

Veil (calyptra).--Small.

Spore-case.--Somewhat nodding, tapering from the enlarged mouth toward the pedicel, long-necked, enlarged at the mouth and bell-shaped when dry.

Pedicel (seta).--Short, purple.

Lid (operculum).--Conical, short-beaked.

Teeth (peristome).--Distantly jointed, cilia short, robust, unequal.

Annulus.--Narrow, simple.

Spores.--The fruit is very rare.

Distribution.--Found in Europe and eastern North America.

HYPNUM: Sub-genus AMBLYSTEGIUM

The species of the Sub-genus Amblystegium vary in size from minute to large and robust and vary in colour from bright yellow-green to dark dull-green. The stems are prostrate, creeping, decumbent, ascending, or erect. The male and female flowers are usually on separate plants.

The stems are usually tender and soft, but are occasionally rigid. They are repeatedly branched, commonly irregularly so, with the branches more or less erect.

The leaves spread in all directions. They are narrowly lance-shaped to broadly egg-shaped, concave, or flat, never eared at the base and never with the cells narrowly linear. The base may or may not grow downward on the stem. Vein absent or prominent, margins entire or serrate.

The spore-cases are oval to cylindrical, symmetrical or unsymmetrical, erect to horizontal and usually constricted under the mouth when dry. The base tapers into a large or small collum. The colour varies from uniformly purple or brown through two shades to pale throughout. The peristome is normal, with usually 2 to 4 cilia, although in a few cases they are absent or rudimentary. The generic name from the Greek blunt, and a cover, refers to the character of the lid, which is convex or conic, usually bluntly pointed, rarely sharply pointed. The annulus consists of from 1 to 3 rows of cells. The calyptra is small and falls early. Sixteen species are known in North America, ten of them being found in both America and Europe.