M M
G r o u p A.— CYMBIFOLIA.
Plants robust. Branches turgid, those of the coma rounded
and obtuse at apex, the cuticular cells fibrillose ; branch leaves imbricated,
ve ry broad, cymbiform-concave, ovate or roundish, with
an involute rounded cucullate apex.
I. Sphagnum Portoricense, Hampe.
Pl. II.
Dioicous ? tall, robust, fuscescent ; the stem with 2-3 layers of
cuticular cells. Stem leaves subquadrate-ovate, fimbriate all round
the margin. Divergent branches subclavate-fusiform, with closely
imbricated leaves, the cuticular cells spirally fibrillose, their transverse
walls geniculate downwards. Branch leaves orbiculate-ovate,
cucullate, squamose at back, minutely fimbriate all round the
margin ; chlorophyllose cells triangular in section, placed between
the hyaline on inner surface o f lea f and crested with papillae
where united to them.
S y n o n .— Sph. Portoricense, H a m p e , Linnæa, 1852, p . 359. S u l l i v a n t , I c .
Muse. p. 3, tab. 2 (1864). A u s t i n , Muse. Appalach. No. i (1870).
Sph. SuUivantianum, A u s t i n , in A m e r . J o u r ii . S e i . 1 8 6 3 , p . 2 5 2 .
Dioicous ? in large soft tufts, pale fuscous below, pale glaucous
green above. Stems 8 - 14 in. high, stout, simple or bipartite, firm,
pale brown ; cuticular cells in 2-3 layers, containing spiral fibres,
but few pores. Stem leaves erect or deflexed, auricled, subquadrate
ovate, fringed round the entire margin ; upper cells
rhomboidal, lower elongated, all without fibres or pores.
Ramuli 4 -5 in a fascicle, 2-3 divergent, arcuato-patent, subclavate
fusiform, attenuated at base, the leaves julaceously imbricated
; pendent branches more slender, lax-leaved. Cuticular
cells spirally fibrillose, with few pores, the transverse walls geniculate
downward into the subjacent cells, and usually having a pore
at the apex o f the bend.
L eaves o f the divergent branches small below, and widely
cordate or semicircular, becoming larger above, narrowed at base,
the median orbiculate-ovate, squamoso-scabrous at back o f the
strongly cucullate apex, v e ry narrowly bordered ; all minutely
fimbriate throughout, the fibrils o f the fringe formed by the commissural
walls o f destroyed hyaline cells ; lower hyaline cells
elongato-rhomboidal, upper rhombic, with parallel linear papillae
internally on the wall where united to the chlorophyllose cells, all
fibrillose, with several large pores at the margin ; chlorophyllose
cells triangular in section, interposed between the hyaline on the
concave surface o f the leaf. Fruit unknown.
H a b .— Swamps in mountain districts. N. America; Manchester ponds. Ocean
County, New Jersey (Austin). First found by Schwanecke in Porto Rico.
This fine and rare species worthily heads the genus, and with
the two following and Sph. Herminieri, Schimp., from Guadaloupe,
constitute a small natural group having the internal lateral wall o f
the hyaline cells variously covered with crests or papillae. T h e
present may be at once distinguished b y the beautifully fringed
margin o f the branch leaves, and by the curious downward prolongation
o f the transverse wall o f the cuticular cells o f the
branches, which may be readily observed in the series o f cells at
each lateral margin.
2. Sphagnum Austini, S u l l i v a n t .
Pl. III.
Dioicous, green above, ochraceous or brown below, the stem
with four layers o f cuticular cells. Stem leaves Ungulate, obtuse.
Divergent branches two, attenuated, the cuticular cells spirally
fibrillose. Branch leaves closely imbricated, ovate-oblong, somewhat
cucullate, squamose at back ; chlorophyllose cells obtusely
trigonous, placed between the hyaline on inner surface o f leaf, and
transversely crested with papillae where united to them.
S y n o n .— Austini, S u l l . in A u s t . Musci Appal, p. 3, n. 2 (1870), et Ic.
Muse. Suppl. t . I, p. 9 (1875). L i n d b . in Act. Soc. Sc. Fenn. x. p. 280, in addend.
(1872), in Bot Not. 1873, p. 45, et in Not ur Siillsk. pro Fn. et FI. Fenn. Fdrh.
xiii. p. 391 (1874). B r a i t h w . in Monthl. Micr. Journ. May 1873, p. 215, t. 17, et
Sphag. Brit Exsic. n. i (1877). C o o k e , Grevillea, ii. p. 61 (1873). S c h im p .
Synops. ed. 2, p. 849 (1876).
Dioicous, in elevated densely-cushioned tufts ; soft, robust, pale
green above, fusco-ochraceous below. Stems 4-8 in. high, frequently
dichotomous, dark b row n ; cells o f the peripheral layers
strongly incrassate, red brown ; cuticular cells in four strata, the
outer quadrato-hexagonal, without fibres, the inner with ve ry fine
fibres and large pores. Stem leaves erect. Ungulate, obtuse,
minutely Iringed at a p e x ; the hyaline cells empty above, fibrose
and porose below. Branches closely placed, three in a fascicle,
two divergent, arcuate, attenuated towards point, one pendent.