128 PLO RA ANTARCTICA.
TMs agrees wdtli no other species of the genus in habit. It is allied to Dicranwn filiforme, Schwaeg., but bas
entire teeth. The calj’ptra and operculum ive have only seen detached amongst the leaves. There is a very
similar plant in the Hookerian Herhariiun, received from Mr. Dickson ; it has however a much longer seta, the
perichætial leaves are smaller and shorter, the cauline suhsecund, more crisped when dry, and fm*nished with a
thinner nerve.
P l a t e LATH. Fig. III.—1, a specimen of the natural size; 2 and 3, leaves; 4, perichætial leaf, seta, tlieca,
&c. ; 5, teeth; 6, calyptra :—magnified.
11. SPKUCEA^, Brid.
Peristomium simplex. - Feiites sedecim, bifidi. Calyptra ampia, glaberrima, latere fissa, basi integerrima.—
Holoniitriiuii, Bridel. Fid l. etMart.fi. Bras. p. 17.
The generic name was fomided on a mistaken riew of the nature of the caljqitra, described by Bridel as “ elongato-
eonica, basi coarctata laterequc integerrima ; ” it is entii-e, in a vei-y young state only, before the theca is developed.
Hornschuch fii-st modified the description of that organ, which is truly dimidiate in all the species, though uot as the
last named author describes it, “ campanulata.” Except in greater size, it does not differ from that of Weissia. The
essential difference betw'een a dimidiate and mitrifomi calyptra arises simply from the former being too narrow' to
contain the matm-c theca, whilst the other is of sufficient capacity for that purpose. In habit tMs genus appears to us
far less intimately allied to Bacomitrium than to Bidymodon, with wMch it coincides in the dilated bases of the leaves ;
the cMef peculiarities ai-e the shorter teeth and longer operculum, characteristics wMch, if taken in conjunction with
the large perichætial leaves, may serve to keep the present distinct.
1. Sprucea perichoeüaüs,P>ùà.; caule erecto ramoso, foliis imbricatis erecto-patentibus lanceolatis
acmniuatis margine planis, nervo continuo, perichætialibus vaginantibus, theca oblonga, opérenlo aciculari.
Holomitriiun perichætiale, Brid. Bryol. Univ. vol. i. p. 227. Tricliostomum, Hook. 3Iusc. Exot. t. 73.
Hab. Campbell’s Island; uot uncommon on the stems of slirnbs.
In this species the teeth are split near the summit only, perforated below, and of a similar structure with those
of a Biyptodon, Brid.
12. DICRANLM, Hedw.
Peristomium úxafity.; dentibus sedecim, bifidis. cucuUiformis.
1. D icranijm Menziesii, Tayl.; caule ascendente snbramoso, foliis secundis setaceis basi lanceolatis
subrigidis apice sub lente serrulatis siccitate strictis nervo latiuscnlo vahdo subexcurrente, seta brevi, theca
elliptico-oblonga basi substrumosa semiimmersa, operculo longirostro. D. Menziesii, Taylor in Phytologist,
vol. ii. p. 1094.
H a b . Lord Auckland’s group ; on trunks of trees sparingly, barren.
Caules semiimciales. Folia suberecta, conferta, 3-5 lin. longa, valde angusta, supra canaliculata, flavcsccntia,
marginibus basi inflexis ; perichcetialia vaginantia 4—^ breviora, basi dilatata. Seta 3 lin. longa, paUida, vix tortihs.
* Tliough very averse to the system of changing names, w'e should not feel omselves justified in aUowing that
oi' Jlolomitrium, founded, as the name is, upon incoiTCct characters di-awn from imperfect specimens, to remain. In
proposing that of Sprucea for tlus fine genus, we commemorate the services rendered to British Botany, and especially
to Muscology, by our acute friend, ili-. Richard Spruce, of York.
Theca suberecta, curvata, brunnea, siccitate infra orem contracta, demiun obscine striata. Bentcs suberecti, incum,
rubri. Operculum capsulam æquans, rostro gi’acüi, cmwato.
Tbe above description has been cbawn up from original specimens, gathered by Mi-. Menzies (diu-ing A'ancouver’s
Voyage) in Dusky Bay, New Zealand. TMs plant differs from B.fasciatum, Hedw. (Sp. Muse. p. 127- t. 28.), in the
longer, more setaceous, nerved leaves, sohtary seta, and oblong theca. Tw'O closely allied forms occiu- in Herb. Hook.,
one having longer stems and more rigid, Im-id green leaves, suddenly dilated at the base ; the other with lax spreading
foliage.
P l.vte LVIII. Fig. IV.—1, plant of the natural size ; 2, part of branch with theca ; 3, leaf ; 4, lower part of
ditto; 5, theca:—magnified.
2. D icranum pungens. Hook. fil. et W ils. ; caule elongato subramoso, foliis secundis patentibus hneari-
laiiceolatis attenuatis convolutis apice carinatis serrulatis tenmnerviis, perichætialibus elongatis convolutis,
seta mediocri torta, theca inclinata oblonga cuxvula, operculo longirostro. (Ta b . L IX . Fig. I.)
H ab. Lord Auckland’s group and CampbeU’s Is lan d ; barren in the la tter locality.
Caules 3-4-unciales, robusti, erecti v. curvati, parce ramosi. Folia 4-5 lin. louga, conferta, patentia, subrigida,
inferiora subsquan-osa, superiora dense congesta, supra carinata, margimbus apices versus dorsoque serratis, plerumque
arcte convolutis, nervo tenui, hiteo-vii-idia, nitida, siccitate supra medium torta; perichoetialia intima 8 Un.
longa, enervia, convoluta, integerrima. Setæ interdum binæ, 8-9 Un. longæ, gi-aciles, subflexuosæ, nibræ, siccitate
tortæ. Theca parvula, eUiptieo-oblonga, subcmw'ata, basi -vix strumosa, nifo-biunnea, siccitate infra orem contracta.
Fentes pro genere parvi, conmventes, demum supra medium fissi, feiTUginei. Operculum (delapsum) theca longius,
cm-virostrum. Calyptra straminea.
This very handsome species resembles the B . Blumii, Schwaeg. (Suppl, vol. ii. pt. 2. p. 116. 1 .185), inaccurately
described as nerveless, but differs essentiaUy in the form of the theca. B . Billardieri has shorter and broader
leaves, and larger thecæ. In B. setosum, nobis, a nearer aUy, the leaves are more setaceous and fragile, the nerve
broader, and occupying the whole breadth towards the apex, the capsule is longer and more curved, the peristome
larger and of a red colom-, and the seta not twisted when (h-y.
P late ITX. Fig. I—1, a specimen of the natural size ; 2, front, and 3, back riew of a leaf; 4, young theca ;
5, matm-e ditto; 6, teeth:—magnified.
3. D icranum Scliwaeg. ; caule elongato dichotome ramoso^ foliis subsecundis basi lanceolatis
longe acnminatis denticulatis, theca strmnosa, opercido longirostro. D. BiUardieri, Schwaeg. Suppl.
vol. ii. pt. 1. p. 70. 1 .121.
ATir. duriusculum ; caule humiU fastigiatim ramoso, fohis magis rigidis attenuatis, nervo latiore, seta
longiore.
H ab. Lord Auckland’s gro u p ; on the groimd and dead tru n k s of trees iu woods, both varieties.
The habit of the var. w'Meli also grows on the more exposed uplands, is rather pecuhar ; stiU we can find no
specific lUstinctioii between them. The B . Novæ Jlollandioe, Ilornsch., does not appear different from this species.
4. D icranum setosum, Hook. iU. et A^Ms. ; caule fr'agUi subramoso, foliis strictis fragUibus suberectis
longissime lanccolato-setaccis apice serridatis nervo latiuscnlo subexciurente, seta lougiuscula, theca oblonga
curvata, opcrciUo longirostro. (Tab. LA’I I I . Fig. A^.)
A^ar. 0, attenuatum ; caule ilexUi elongato ramoso. (T.ib. LATII. Fig. V. 2.)