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H a b , Decayed trunks, in woods ; common.
Much like Pylais ia polyantha, differing in its bright yellowish green
color, the leaves broader and shorter, imbricate when dry, and the
regular capsule more solid.
123. PYLAISIA, Brucli & Schimp. (PI. 4.)
Stems creeping, piimately ramulose ; branchlets short, erect.
Leaves close, spreading or subsecund and falcate, ecostate, concave,
entire or slightly serrulate, glossy. Flowers monoecious.
Capsule ovate-ohlong or subcylindrical, slightly curved when
dry. Teeth of the peristome linear-lanceolate, more or less
densely articulate, solid, hyaline on the borders; segments
attached to a short membrane, longer than the teeth, linear-
subulate, cleft along the keel or bipartite ; cilia rudimentary or
none. Annulus narrow. — Pylaiea, Lindb.
1. P. p o ly a n th a , Bruch & Schimp. Leaves erect, spreading,
ovate-lanceolate, long-acuminate: capsule chestnut-color;
cilia very short. — Bryol. Eur. t. 455. Hypnum polyanthos,
Sohreb. Spicil. FI. Lips. 97 ; Muell. Syn. ii. 337. Leskea polyantha,
Hedw. Muso. Frond, iv. 4, t. 2. Stereodon polyanthus.
Mitt. Journ. Linn. Soo. viii. 40.
H a b . On trees; White Mountains (James); Santa Fe (Fendler); Saskatchewan
and Eocky Mountains (Bourgeau). Rare.
2. P. h e teromalla, Bruch & Schimp. Much like the preceding,
differing in its pale yellowish color, the leaves broadly
ovate, acuminate, subscarious, erect on the borders, the cells of
the areolation very pale, narrow, subconfluent, those of the
basilar angles few, very small and slightly granulose, the inner
perichætial leaves enlarged at base, the capsule oval and broader,
and the operculum shorter. —Lond. Journ. Bot. ii. 669 (1843).
Hypnum polyanthum, var. pallidifolium, Muell. Syn. ii. 317.
H a b . Trunks of trees and stones, in various situations; Eocky Mountains
(Drummond, n. 222).
3. P. su b d en ticu la ta , Schimp. Plants glossy-green,
small, in closely entangled mats ; branchlets crowded, short and
slender : leaves not crowded, ovate-lanoeolate, more or less long-
acuminate, concave, slightly serrulate at the apex; alar cells
numerous, subgranulose ; perichætial leaves sheathing, loosely
areolate, narrowly aouminate: capsule oblong-cylindrical and
symmetrical ; lid rostrate from a conical base ; teeth distantly
articulate ; segments yellow, cleft and bifid, attached to a broad
membrane; cilia none: spores bright yellow. — Bryol. Eur.
Pylaisma, 3; Sulliv. Icon. Muso. 137, t. 87. P. denticulata,
Sulliv. Mosses of U. States, 62.
Var. o b s c u r a . Plants dirty green ; tufts strong, compact :
leaves closely imbricate, shorter; the perichætial short-acuminate,
entire: lid short, whitish. — P. Jamesii, Sulliv. & Lesq.
Muse. Bor.-Amer. Exsicc. ed. 2, n. 383.
H a e . Ou the bark of trees, Central Ohio (Sullivant); New Jersey
(Austin) ; the variety on the ground and roots of trees, near Chelsea, Massachusetts
(James).
Sullivant remarks, 1. c., that the species is veiy near slender forms
of P . polyantha, distinguished by the larger shorter-pointed leaves, the
cells broader and shorter, those of the angles more numerous, and the
beak of tbe lid longer.
4. P. in t r i c a t a , Bruch & Schimp. Size and mode of
growth as in P . subdenticulata; branches short, recurved:
leaves ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, slightly denticulate at the
apex, the upper secund; angular cells quadrate, numerous:
capsule oblong-ovate, turgid, narrower at the orifice ; operculum
conical, short-rostellate ; segments granulated, adhering to and
bordering the lower half of the teeth, split above and free, as in
species of Bartramia : spores large. — Bryol. Eur. Pylaisma,
3 ; Sulliv. Mosses of U. States, 62, and Icon. Muse. 139, t. 88.
Pterigynandrum intricatum, Hedw. Spec. Muse. 85, t. 18.
H a b . Trees and old logs; common in woods.
5. P. v e lu tin a , Bruch & Schimp. 1. c. Differs from the
last, with which it has often been confounded, in the somewhat
narrower leaves with few quadrate alar cells, the capsule cylindrical
with a broad orifice and longer operculum, the teeth more
densely articulate, narrowly bordered their whole length by the
adhering segments, and the spores dark yellowish green, larger
and granulated. — Sulliv. Mosses of U. States, 63, aud loon.
Muse. 140, t. 89.
H a b . Bark of trees; often growing with the last.
124. HOMALOTHEC IUM, Bruch & Schimp. (PI. 5.)
Plants varying in size, prostrate, closely and pinnately
branched. Leaves glossy, costate, serrulate ; areolation oblong