D. Cuspidata. Branch leaves ovato-lanceolate or narrowly
lanceolate, with the points elongated, truncate, and
toothed ; margin strongly involute at point.
Branches 7 -12 in a fascicle. Wu ljii.
Branches 3-6 in a fascicle.
Stem leaves narrower at base than above.
Stem leaves rounded at apex, fringed all round the
upper half. fimbriatum.
Stem leaves truncate, only fringed along the transverse
margin. Lindbergii.
Stem leaves not narrower at base.
Stem leaves not bordered ; branch leaves squarrose.
squarrosum.
Stem leaves broadly bordered with narrow cells ;
branch leaves erecto-patent.
Branch leaves with v e ry large pores.
Stem leaves tongue - shaped, more or less
pointed. acutifolium.
Stem leaves as wide above as at base, truncate,
fringed at apex. strictum.
Branch leaves with v e ry small pores.
Stem leaves triangular, cells o f border rather short.
Pendent branches concealing stem. Cuticular
cells thin and indistinct. intermedium.
Stem leaves triangular, ce llso f border verynarrow
and elongated. Pendent branches not concealing
stem. Cuticular cells distinct, cuspidatum.
Sect. I I .— H em ithe c a , Lindb.
Branches homomorphous, solitary or in pairs ; their leaves
with spiral fibres. Stem leaves and branch leaves alike, obtuse.
Capsule wide-mouthed, hemispherical. Pylaiei.
Sect. I I I .— IsocLADUS, Lindb.
Branches homomorphous, fascicled, all arcuato-divergent ; their
leaves lanceolate-subulate, without spiral fibres, but with a central
longitudinal row o f pores. Capsule as in Sect. I. macrophyllum.
M O N O G R A P H O F T H E S P E C IE S F O U N D IN
E U R O P E A N D N O R T H A M E R IC A .
S P H A G N U M , D i l l e n .
Stems dichotomous, fastigiate, erect, renewed b y an annual innovation
at apex ; ramuli fascicled at base, flagelliform, partly
patulous, partly adpresso-reflexed ; the younger clavate, erect,
clustered in a dense capitulum at summit o f stem. Cauline leaves
5-ranked, erecto - incumbent or reflexed, soft ; ramuline leaves
imbricated, nerveless, pale and fragile when dry ; the areolation
composed o f large vesicular, sigmoid, hyaline cells, containing
spiral fibres and perforated by pores, and separated b y narrow
duct-like opake cells placed between their adjacent walls. Inflorescence
monoicous or dioicous ; the male strobiliform on lateral
ramuli, antheridia v e ry numerous, solitary at the side o f each
involucral bract, pedicellate, subglobose ; female forming long
gemmules with 1 -5 archegonia, and branched, thread-like paraphyses.
Fruit solitary, concealed in the perichætium, and at maturity
elevated on an elongated pseudopodium. Capsule globose,
sessile on the top o f the vaginula, brown ; operculum minute,
hemispherical, without annulus or peristome ; columella elevated,
hemispheric, covered by the excavato-hemispheric sporangium ;
pericarpic membrane ve ry thin, whitish, torn irregularly, adhering
partly to the capsule, partly to the top o f the vaginula.
Plants dwelling in marshes and peat bogs, aggregated in dense
tufts or cushions, which consist all o f one species or o f an admixture
o f two or more ; absorbing water with great avidity and
retaining it like a sponge.
Sect. I .— E usphagnum, Lindb.
Plants pale green, whitish, or ochraceous, occasionally more or
less tinged with purple. Branches o f two forms, in distinct fascicles
of 3 -12 , part divergent or decurved, part attenuated, slender, and
pendulous. Branch leaves imbricated, ovate or ovato-lanceolate,
the cells rhomboidal, curved, containing fibres, and with marginal
pores. Perichætial bracts much larger, broad, and convolute.
Capsule exserted, globose, with a shallow, convex lid.