I
very short peduncle, cut h a lf way down into
seven or eight obtuse revolute segments. Elaters
bispiral. The receptacle is marked on the top
with a cruciate crest, which is obtusely four-
lobed (fig. 189).
Gen u s 44. REBOULIA, Nees.
Female receptacle pedunculate, conical,
hemispherical or plane, i - 6 lobed; lobes
parted nea r ly to the m id d le ; peduncle continuous
with the frond, involúcrate at the
base, bearded at the apex. Per ianth none.
C a lyp t ra oval, then saucer- like at the base of
the fruit, or obsolete. Capsule hidden b y the
valves of the involucre, subglobose, ir re gu lar
ly torn at the ve r te x or suboperculate, v e r y
shor t ly pedicellate ; pedicel immersed in the
receptacle. Elaters bispiral. Male receptacle
sessile, discoid. Veg e ta t ion frondose.
Reboulia hemisphaeriea, Raddi.
Fronds prostrate, flat, overlapping, g en e r ally
forked, and wa v ed at the margin, o f a dark
green colour. Midrib prominent. Receptacle
cut at the margin into from four to ten equal
lobes, cover ing as many involucres, which are
rioMoothed. Eas i ly dist inguished b y the deeply
divided 4-5-fid receptacle, which is barbate
beneath and at the base of the peduncle.
Fegatella hemispherica, T a y l . Linn. Trans.
X V I I . , p . 383) b 1 2 , f. 4 . Reboulia hemispherica,
Raddi. Opus. Sci. Bot. II., 357.
Marchantía hemispherica, Eng. Bot. t. 503.
Sides of mountain streams and moist banks. (Fr.
April.) ( Fig. I go.)
Fronds I to 2 inches, dichotomous and variously
lobed and sinuate, spreading and creeping by
means o f numerous slender
radicles descending from
the prominent midrib, margins
elevated,upper surface
granulated, of a fine green
colour, often purple when
exposed to the sun, especially
about the margin, and
the underside is generally
of a dark purple hue.
Female receptacles at first
190.
roundish, then hemispherical, barbate beneath,
divided into from four to six laciniæ at the margin,
standing on short peduncles, which are totally
destitute of any bracts or membranes at their base
(fig. 190). Cells of the receptacle rarely seven,
eight,_ or nine, with a vertical opening, bivalved,
margins involute. Perianth none. Capsules for
the most part solitary, never emergent, but sessile
in the cells. Male receptacles purple brown,
roundish, marginate, plane above, sessile, immersed
in the frond.
Sometimes confounded with Preissia coimmitatai
but easily distinguished by the absence of the four-
lobed cruciate crest.