■ i
irregularly pinnately ramulose ; branclilets curved at the apex :
leaves suhfaloate-secund, ovate-laiiceolate, aouminate, serrulate,
costate to above the middle, loosely areolate with few quadrate-
oblong alar cells ; perichætial leaves gradually narrowed into a
long point, costate ; capsule cernuous and horizontal, turgid or
gibbous-ovate, constricted under the orifice when dry ; pedicel
purple, tuberculate ; lid large, convex-conical, apiculate ; segments
perforated, aud cilia as long as the teeth ; annulus revoluble.—
Spec. PI. 1129; Hedw. Muso. Frond, iv. 70, t. 27.
Brachythecium velutinum, Bruch & Schimp. Bryol. Eur. t. 538.
II. declivum. Mitt., Journ. Linn. Soc. viii. 33, t. 6.
H a b . Mountain regions, on soft loose earth in shady places; mountains
of New York, Vermont, etc.; Fend d’Oreille Eiver, N. Idaho
(Lyall) ; not common.
Avery variable species; plants slender or robust; stems more or less
divided, and the branchlets varying in length; leaves close or more distant,
bright green or yellow, opaque or glossy; capsule subglobose or
ohlong, on a short or long pedicel, etc. According to Mitten, II. decli-
vum differs from the normal forms merely in the thicker more s'cabrous
pedicel and the capsule pendulous when old, characters which in such
polymorphous species cannot be considered as specific.
46. H. H illeb ran d i, Lesq. Monoecious : plants small, in
dense intricate glossy yellowish tufts ; stems prostrate, irregu-
• larly pinnately ramulose ; branches short, radiculose ; leaves imbricate,
erect, rarely subsecund, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, concave,
costate to the middle, flat or slightly reflexed on the borders,
serrulate all around ; alar cells numerous, small, quadrate ; perichætial
leaves oblong at base, gradually short-acuminate, pellucid,
ecostate and nearly entire : capsule small, erect, turgid at
base, obovate, nearly equal, rarely inclined, constricted under
the broad orifice when empty ; pedicel short, 1 c.m. long, reddish
and rough at base, yellowish and smooth above ; operculum
sliort-conical, obtuse, apiculate; peristome normal; segments and
cilia as long as the teeth ; annulus simple. —Mem. Calif. Acad,
i. 33. Brachythecium Hillebrandi, Sulliv. Icon. Muso. Suppl.
98, t. 74.
Hab. On rocks, Merced Eiver, California (Bolander).
47. H. P en d leri, Sulliv. & Lesq. Monoecious and more
generally synoecious : plants small, densely entangled, cespitose,
pale green, glossy ; stems prostrate, radiculose, closely ramulose
; branchlets very short, terete-foliate : leaves erect, ovate
or elliptical-lanceolate, narrowed into a somewhat long narrow
point, concave, serrulate and recurved on the borders, costate
to above the middle ; cells very narrowly linear, enlarged at the
angles; inner perichætial leaves oblong, abruptly long-acuminate
; costa almost none : capsule oblong, regular and suberect,
or slightly inclined and more convex on one side, on a purple
pedicel rough at the base only ; lid large, obtusely long-conical,
constricted in the middle, mamillate ; teeth densely articulate,
hy.aline-marginate ; segments large ; cilia solitary aud short or
none ; annulus double, revoluble. — Muse. Bor.-Amer. Exsicc.
n. 334; Sulliv. Mosses of U. States, 76, and Icon. Muse. 189,
t. 117. Leskea Fendleri, Sulliv. Mem. Amer. Acad. iv. 169,
t. 1. LI. velutinum, var. microcarpum, Muell. Syn. ii. 400.
IIa b . On rocks near Santa Pe, New Mexico (Fendler).
Resembles the last in size and habit, but is easily recognized by its
longer capsule and longer operculum ; the basilar cells are few and large
in this species, and the peristome is of a different character.
48. H. B olanderi, Lesq. Dioeoious : tufts compact or
loose -and widely expanded, pale green ; stenls irregularly
divided ; branches long, flexuous or rigid, suberect, suhpinnately
ramulose: leaves open-erect, ovate-lanceolate, short-acuminate,
flat on the borders, serrulate all around, costate to above the
middle; areolation loose, the alar cells few, distinct, oblong-
quadrate, pellucid ; upper perichætial leaves broadly sheathing
at base, narrowed into a flexuous or reflexed serrulate long
point, obsoletely costate : capsule short-oval, gibbous, horizontal
; operculum short-conical, brown, tipped with black ;
pedicel short, blood-red, arcuate above, rough ; segments split
their whole length ; cilia two, as long as the segments ; annulus
large, compound, revoluble. — Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc. xiii. 12 ;
Sulliv. & Lesq. Muso. Bor.-Amer. Exsicc. (ed. 2), n. 502.
H.4lE. On the ground, under JJmbellularia Oalifornica (Bolander).
AVitli the aspect of H. Sullivantii, but distinguished at once by its short-
conical operculum.
49. H. S ta rk ii, Brid. Monoecious : more or less densely
tufted ; stems prostrate, branching ; branchlets erect, arcuate
at the apex : stem-leaves ohcordate, lanceolate-acuminate, halftwisted
at the point, those of the branches narrower, all deourrent
at the basilar concave angles, serrate, costate to below the
point, bright green and glossy ; meshes of the areolation loose,
hexagonal-rhomhoidal, the alar large, quadrate ; perichætial
leaves squarrose, the inner ecostate, pale : capsule abruptly